First Impressions, Second Chances
by Lord 0f Storms
Summary: Yazoo and Loz survive AC and are captured by the Turks. Soon, Reno is babysitting Yazoo, and Loz is trying to impress Yuffie, but will the remnants get a second chance at life, and more importantly, love? YazooReno and LozYuffie!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes: my first FFVII fic, i hope they're not too OOC. Let me know. It's Loz/Yuffie and Reno/Yazoo as you know it's mainly romance and drama, but there's a little humour and action too, just to spice it up a little...**

**read, review, and enjoy!**

First Impressions, Second Chances

In the aftermath of Cloud's fight with Sephiroth, the blonde hero was shot by the remnant, Yazoo. By some miracle, though he fell and appeared to be dead, he was revived aboard the Shera. His gunshot wound was healing rapidly and he stood on the bridge with his companions, surveying the wreckage of the battle scene.

"Cloud?" Tifa asked softly, her voice filled with concern. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah," he answered, seeming more relaxed, "It's strange, like I was never shot."

"Well at least those sons of bitches got what was coming to them!" Cid interrupted on what could have been a private moment.

"It's all so sad," Tifa sighed, "sad and twisted."

"You're not feeling sorry for those freaks, are ya?" He asked with an accusatory tone which brought a look of surprise to the woman's face.

"Of course she doesn't!" Yuffie cried, replying for he stunned friend.

"Keep out of it, this is grown-up talk." Cid answered.

Yuffie's mouth fell open. It still shocked her when Cid was determined to treat her like an ignorant child.

"I _am_ a grown-up!" She yelled. "SEXIST!"

"What?! What's sexism got to do with it?!"

"Everything, that's what!"

"Shut up, both of you," came the commanding voice of Barret, who was surveying the pair with an unimpressed expression. Yuffie pouted. It wasn't her fault, it was Cid who started it, it always was. She wasn't about to argue with Barret though. He could probably squash her with one hand.

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Cid ranted defensively, "this is my ship! You don't like it then jump off!"

"You're acting like a wee babby." Cait Sith piped up.

Cid turned his victimised scowl on the small creature, who promptly hid behind Red VIII's head.

Tifa held up a hand, waving it to silence them, as her phone began to play some awful jingling ringtne. Yuffie always thought Tifa had the _worst_ taste in music. She fished about in her clothes, and pulled out her phone. Cid fell silent with a disgruntled expression on his face.

Tifa mouthes the word 'Reno' at them, and nodded a response to something the redhead was saying, despite the fact he couldn't see her.

"What?!" She cried, her expression suddenly changing to one of absolute horror and disbelief. She paled, her eyes wide as he told her more. Yuffie was dying to know what was going on. "They can't be...we watched them die..."

"Something tells me I ain't gonna like this."Cid frowned.

"Is it Yazoo and Loz?" Cloud asked grimly as Tifa flipped her phone shut.

She leant against the nearest wall, picking her words with care.

"Yes, they're alive. Somehow.Reno and Rude are guarding them, but the remants, are unconcious for now."

"I thought they died!" Exclaimed Barret.

Vincent, who had been stood qietly in an obscure part of the bridge, now moved into full view to impart his words of wisdom to the group.

"You should know by now, just how hard Sephiroth is to kill. He may have given up on Kadaj, but clearly not these two."

"So what, we wait for tem to change?" Yuffie asked fearfully. She had already seem a remnant transform into Sephiroth, Cloud have to fight him, and them almost die. She didn't want to watch it twice more. Those remnants must be even more freakishly strong than she'd first imagined, to survive an explosion. The idea of them just lying in a hospital bed, recovering freaked her out so much.

"They won't necessarily change," Vincent replied, banishing her immediate worries.

"Sephiroth can't regrow a head, right?" Cid asked, his mind working towards some undoubtedly stupid plan.

"No." Vincent answered.

"The we cut their heads off, problem solved!"

Cid grinned at what he seemed to think was a good idea. Barret and Tifa were staring at him in desbelief, and Yuffie felt a little sick as the imagery to accompany Cid's words floated into her mind.

"We're not cutting off any heads." Tifa told him.

"Dammit..." Cid grumbled in frustration.

There was a pause of uncomfortable silence as the group waited to hear Cloud's verdict. He usually got the last say in these things, much to Yuffie's distaste. Sometimes she was convinced the others thought he was a messiah or something.

"I want to see them." He announced.

"What?" Barret boomed.

Yuffie shivered. It was sad that the remnants had to die, but there was no other way. She hoped that Cloud didn't want to find an alternative to finishing them off. They weren't normal people, they couldn't live in society.

"You mustn't forget the Geostigma," Red VIII reminded him.

"He's right," Tufa smiled with relief, "we need to get you and the kids all fixed up before you deal with this."

"Alright," Cloud agreed. "But I have to finish this."

"Be careful," Vincent warned. "When they see you, there's a risk they may transform."

"I know."

The mood grew despondent again. This little revelation had killed the high they were all on after Sephiroth's defeat. Yuffie didn't want her friends dwelling on this bad thing. Sephiroth's defeat was bound to go less smoothly than they had thought. They should look towards the positve thing that was infront of them; there was a cure to Geostigma, and their lives could return to what they were before.

**Author's notes: dun dun dun!!! what will happen?? will Cloud kill the remnants?? well, if you review this chapter, i can make a second, and you'll find out!!**

**there wasn't any romance yet, but give it a while, afterall, everyone just nearly died, and the remnants are their sworn enemies.. review!!!! make me happy!!! **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cloud had slipped into a strange catatonic state as they immersed him into the perfumed water in the church. They had rounded up all the children, and had gathered them into the pool in order to heal the Geostigma. Cloud was partially submerged by the healed children, and he soon awoke, a small smile curving his normally solemn mouth.

He gazed past his friends, probably at a wall, or something else boring that he always seemed to stare at intently. Yuffie and Cid encouraged the last of the infected children into the pool. Yuffie laughed to see the kids splashing about, much more care-free than they'd been for a long time. It almost made her want to join in.

Cloud soon joined his companions, who were happy to see him looking healthy once more.

"How do you feel?" Tifa asked brightly.

"Much better, like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders."

"Good," she grinned, "you should take it easy for a while."

Cloud's face grew troubled once more as he remembered the remnants, which didn't seem to be worrying his friends quite so much as it worried him.

"I need to deal with Yazoo and Loz." He frowned.

"I know..." Tifa faltered, adopting Cloud's solemn expression, though it didn't give her the same distant look. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, but I can't let them fall back into the hands of Shinra, it would be a disaster."

Tifa stared at him with a contemplative expression on her face. She beamed suddenly,seeming to find some sudden joy. "I'll come with you." She smiled.

Cloud looked reluctant, but he didn't refuse.

"Cloud...?"

"Hmm?"

Tifa seemed anxious, not so much for herself, but most likely for those around her, as often seemed to be to case with her. Yuffie thought that Tifa was too kind for her own good sometimes.

"What if they don't die from their injuries?" Tifa asked. "What if they survive? Do we...kill them?"

She uttered the last two words as if it were some kind of sin to think of it. Had the brunette already forgotten that these remnants were the ones who had tried to kill them all? Cloud stared at something or other, not willing to find an answer for her.

A strained silence fell over them, to be broken a few seconds later by a suggestion from Cid.

"I say we cut their heads off!" He exclaimed, causing a few nearby children to stare up at him in fear, before edging away rapidly. Tifa gave the pilot a reproachful expression.

"So you're definitely goining to see them?" Yuffie asked, to confirm it. Cloud nodded.

"Well, give 'em a smack from me!" She grinned cheerfully, attempting to lighten the mood, though everyone seemed determined to be miserable.

"Same here," agreed Cid, though she imagined that he was saying it in all seriousness.

"I think they'll be almost dead anyway," Tifa said vaguely. She looked almost as vacant as Cloud. Yuffie thought that if she wanted to win the blonde over, acting emotionally dead was not going to help.

"Then you should hit them, finish them off." Cid replied bluntly. Yuffie scowled at him. She might not like the remnants, and everyone might think her to be very immature and outspoken, but at least she had more tact than _that._

"I wonder why Aerith didn't take them." Tifa wondered aloud, attracting the intrigued stares of the group. "She took Kadaj."

"Maybe it's cause they're butt-ugly," said Cid.

"They look the same as Kadaj, besides, they're quite hot, for remnants..." Yuffie countered, unsure of how appropriate such a comment was. Couldn't be any worse than Cid's comments.

"Shows how much you know." Retorted the blonde pilot.

"You're _ageist_!" Yuffie snapped.

Vincent approached them with news from Reno and Rude, as Cid sank into a slightly sullen mood. Cloud was still pondering over what Tifa had said about Aerith.

"The remnants no longer possess the materia they stole. It has been washed clean from their bodies, and they are still unconscious."

"How do you know that?" Yuffie asked, "you don't even have a phone." She had often chided him about his inability to keep up with technology. How was she supposed to keep up with him if he didn't have a phone?

"Barret does," he replied. "Cloud, you should go quickly, before the remnants wake and the Turks act."

"We'll be back soon." Tifa answered for Cloud. She took a deep breath, as though she could somehow inhale the courage to deal with the remnants once more.

"Maybe then we can celebrate properly?" Yuffie asked hopefully.

Reno stood at the end of the bed that belonged to the long-haired, slender remnant. Rude stood by the other. The remnant that Reno was guarding had several injuries, with one of his legs broken, his fingers broken, covered in cuts, bruises and plenty of internal damage. The other one had suffered fewer and less extensive injuries.

Reno eyed them with distaste. "Do you think they'll wake up?"

"I hope not," Rude answered.

"Why? I think it would be great, just think, they wake up and see us here and then they _know_ we're the best."

Rude looked slowly down at the unconscious madmen, and then back up at his partner with a smirk.

"What if they wake up and think you're their momma?"

Reno shuddered, "yeah, well what if they wake up and think you're their da-"

He caught himself before he said it. If they thought he was their mother, and Rude was his father, then that would make them...he shivered. He just didn't feel like that about his partner, on any level. It wouldn't be the first time they'd been mistaken for a gay couple though, as once whilst investigating, a woman had asked them if they were 'together'. Reno chuckled at the memory.

So much for the days when the Turks were feared by all.

"You think the boss will want them if they wake up?" He asked, voicing one of the many questions that had been floating around his mind for the past hour.

"Maybe." Rude answered unhelpfully.

"Tseng seemed pretty pissed off about it," Reno began, "I bet it's cause they tortured him and Elena, and now we're healing the remnants up. I bet the boss will freeze them, and do some freaky experiments, and maybe he'll take their brains out. Urgh...where would he put them? They should probably die, someone's gonna kill them anyway, like Cloud Strife, or angry parents. I don't see why the parents are so bothered anyway, they didn't care when their kids were dying in the street, don't ya think?"

"Maybe..."

"Shh, man! I'm trying to think!" Reno said, though he knew that he wouldn't be able to work out the no doubt complicated plans of Shinra.

Rude gasped suddenly, though Reno couldn't see what the bald Turk was staring at for his shades. He waited expectantly as Rude gawked at something. He turned to look at the beds, but the remnants weren't doing anything more exciting than what they'd been doing for the past hour.

"What?" The redhead asked in exasperation.

"The one in the bed next to you just moved." Rude answered, his gaze fixed on the long-haired remnant. Reno stared at the immobile figure, and scratched the back of his head. He'd thought for a while that Rude might be over-working himself, but this just proved it.

"Are high or something?" He asked, gesturing at the bed, "he's unconscious."

"I saw it." Rude insisted. "Just watch, you'll see."

Reno stared at the remnant, waiting for something to happen, when he knew nothing would. These remnants were goners, Rude was just being an ass, trying to fool him. Their bomb had as good as finished the silver-haired freaks off, they weren't about to get up and walk out the door.

He glanced back at Rude, who still had his bald head facing the remnant. He gestured quickly, and Reno glanced back, noticing to remnants fingers moving. Did people do that when they're unconscious?

He leaned over the bed, trying to see if the remnant was still unconscious. The turquoise eyes snapped open.

"Mother?" It groaned.

"Holy shit!" Reno exclaimed, jumping back from the remnant as it..._he_ began to stir. "Rude, you were right, about both things!Hey, hey! Remnant, I'm not your mother, okay?!"

The remnant ignored him, glancing blearily round the room. He waved his arms about in front of him, as though trying to grab something. Reno passed an uneasy look to Rude. Was the remnant hallucinating or something? He wasn't a doctor, he didn't know what to do with these freaks.

"Loz? Loz...where are you?" The remnant gasped, clawing at the tubes that had been inserted into his skin to help him recover. Reno moved swiftly over, pushing the remnant roughly back into bed before he could do himself an injury, or get Reno in trouble.

"Is he alive?" The remnant whispered weakly.

"Maybe." Reno answered sternly. He hadn't forgotten how much pain that remnant had put him in when they'd fought.

"Loz?!" He shrieked, clawing at the bad again. Reno held him down, with some difficulty. The remnant might be half-sedated and badly injured but he was strong.

"He's alive." Rude answered, edging towards the other bed to make sure his remnant wasn't aking too.

The long-haired remnant snatched at Reno's arm, trying to push him away.

"Let me see him, I want to see him." He whined.

"He's right there," Reno answered in exasperation, gesturing at the bed behind him.

"Loz? Are you awake? Is he alive?"

"Course he's alive." Reno replied. This remnant must be stupid, why would they be guarding a dead remnant? The redhead poked the big remnant to prove his point.

The bigger remnant groaned, opening his eyes with the same strained, confused expression that the other one had worn. Rude was stood readily beside him, in case the less wounded remnant tried something.

"Yazoo?" Asked the one called Loz, turning his head to face the slender one. "I thought we were dead."

"You should be." Reno muttered. He was sure the two silver-haired freaks had heard him, but the bigger one continued as though he and Rude weren't there. He whined away about how Jenova wasn't there, and the reunion hadn't worked.

The smaller remnant wasn't looking a him though, he had a steely gaze fixed directly on Reno, who was still holding him down, though he really didn't need to.


	3. Chapter 3

Yazoo lashed out at Reno, scartching his face, and catching the redhead by suprise. Reno responded by shoving him into the bed, using one hand to hold his wrists together, and the other to snatch up a fistful of his hair. Yazoo lay still, trying to avoid his hair being ripped out by the moronic Turk. His silver hair was what Yazoo was most proud of, it made him similar to Sephiroth, Mother's favourite.

Reno relaxed his grip a little, and Yazoo seized his chance. He spat in the Turk's eyes, causing Reno to recoil in disgust. Yazoo threw himself out of the hospital bad, stumbling into the cold tiled floor. Loz immediately clambered out after him, helping the smaller remnant to his feet. Yazoo pushed him away, resenting the idea that he seemed weak now.

Rude readied a fighting stance, as Reno recovered himself.

"You little shit!" He exclaimed. "What the hell was that for?! I warned you, but you didn't listen, and now, I'm gonna have to kick your ass _again."_

Yazoo lunged at the arrogant Turk, knocking him into the door. Loz, meanwhile began some sort of wrestling match with Rude. Reno tried to restrain Yazoo without hurting him. His boss wouldn't be pleased if he was left with two dead remnants. What good was that?

Reno ducked a clumsy punch from Yazoo, the very momentum of it causing the small remnant to stumble forwards again. The redhead seized his chance and grabbed Yazoo from behind, locking his arms around the flailing remnant. He swung, releading Yazoo and letting him fly into the bed. He snatched the handcuff that had been left beside the bed as a precaution, and snapped it around the arm that wasn't broken, locking Yazoo to the bedhead. Ignoring the profanities that the remnant was sreaming at him, Reno decided to help his partner, who was struggling to keep Loz still long enough to handcuff or sedate him. The redhead crept up behind the massive remnant, jabbing an elbow into his back. Loz groaned, turning to exact revenge upon Reno, and giving Rude the perfect opportunity to jab a needle into him. Before the remnant could even lay a finger on Reno, he was out-cold.

"Help me get him back on the bed," Rude instructed.

"Nah," Reno shrugged, "let's just leave him there. He won't mind?"

"Your new friend might." He answered, nodding at the seething remnant who Reno had just handcuffed to the bed."

"Who's cares?" Reno asked in exasperation, "let's just sedate him too."

Rude shook his head, dragging Loz back onto the bed without Reno's help.

"What's going on?"

Yazoo's head jerked towards the door with the sound of that voice. Sure enough, there stood the traitor, Cloud Strife, and a brunette woman. Cloud wore distant, troubled look as he glanced at Loz and Yazoo. The woman was eyeing Rude with anxiety as he hauled Loz's unconcious body across the bed.

"Did they attack you?" She asked.

"Yeah!" Reno cried, "and that one spat in my eye! You wanna watch out for the little one, he's even more of a freak than the other one, and vicious too."

Yazoo sneered at the whiny Turk. A thought crossed his mind as he glanced at Cloud once more. What was he doing here? Why had he come back for them? A nagging hope began to gather in his mind.

He gazed at the uncomfortable blond, and asked him with a woefully innocent voice, "Are you going to kill us, brother?"

Cloud winced, and Yazoo had to hide a smirk. If Cloud was having second thoughts about finishing him and Loz, he may be able to use it to is advantage provided that woman didn't get in the way.

"What are you going to do with them?" She interuppted, turning to the two Turks.

Reno grinned, ready to explain his theory on Shinra's plan. "_Well-_"

"We don't know." Rude cut him off. "We haven't been told anything, except to keep an eye on them."

"Maybe Shinra will test on them," Reno smirked, "so he can find out why Kadaj was such a Jenova-loving freak."

"Don't you dare speak like that about Kadaj," Yazoo hissed. He was about to say 'mother', but stopped himself at the last moment. Any talk that appeared to support her and her plan could land them back in a Shinra laboratory.

"We'll take them." Cloud announced abruptly in a hollow voice.

"What?!" The brunette woman cried. "Cloud, we can't, they're not your responsibility! You don't have to do this, you might put us in danger."

"I can't leave them in the hands of Rufus Shinra," he answered, "and I can't kill them. Aerith didn't want them to die, she can't have done, or she would have taken them, like she did with Kadaj."

Yazoo bit back a grin. This was too easy. "Aerith?" He asked softly. "She spoke to us... to me and Loz. She told us to be with you Cloud, to be like you, and not Sephiroth. She told us not to believe in..." He gulped, "Mother, anymore."

The young brunette woman pressed her mouth shut, staring mournfully at Cloud, whose determination grew a little more at Yazoo's words.

"You can't be serious," Reno scoffed. "You actually want to take these freaks home with you? They might kill you in your sleep, or whenever, they're probably not fussy."

"How do you know we don't just want a second chane, to make amends?" Yazoo asked icily.

Reno jabbed at his own face. "All this spit in my eye tells me so! Ouch! Dammit!"

Rude shook his head as his partner poked himself in the eye. Reno clamped a hand over it, giving Yazoo a watery one-eyed glare.

"Cloud?" Whispered the brunette woman anxiously.

"Big brother?" Yazoo asked with thinly-veiled hope.

"Come on," Cloud mumbled, turning his back on them. "Sorry Tifa, they're coming with us."

He left the room, followed by the offronted young woman. Yazoo got shakily to his feet, trying to pull the handcuff from his wrist. Reno reluctantly freed him, handing the remnant a pair of crutches.

"Don't I get any clothes?" Yazoo hissed at him.

"Why would you want a change of clothes?" Reno smirked. "That dress really suits you."

Yazoo glanced down at the grey hospital gown before glowering at the Turk. Reno moved over to the door, gesturing for him to follow. He grinned at Yazoo's surprised expression.

"What's the matter? You didn't think you'd get away so easily, did ya? Me and Rude have to babysit you, and that's exactly what we're gonna do, so you'd better get used to it."

Yazoo struggled past Rude as he shoved Loz into a wheelchair after failing to revive him. He approached Reno, his face sour as the stupid Turk smirked at him.

The reaction from Cloud's friends had not been unexpected by Yazoo.

"What the HELL?!" Roared the blonde haired pilot named Cid. He appeared to be the most outreaged of the group, though none of them were thrilled at the arrival of the two remnants. None of them had been especially convinced by Cloud's excuse either.

"You were supposed to be _visiting_ them, not bringing them back!" Cried the Wutainian girl, Yuffie.

"We're rehabilitating them," replied Tifa, who still didn't seem altogether convinced, though she had begun to calm down, after her initial outrage at Cloud's decision.

"With Marlene living here?!" Demanded the huge man, Barret. "These two kidnapped her and Denzel, what makes you think they won't do it again?"

Yazoo scowled with disgust. He hadn't wanted to take the little brats in the first place, it was only on Kadaj's instruction that he had even approached them. He wasn't going to kidnap the whiny kids for the hell of it, why would he put himself through that? Even Loz wasn't stupid enough to run off with a pair of annoying children for no reason.

"Marlene isn't living here while they are." Barret concluded, "neither is Denzel. They're coming back with me. Cid, I'm putting them on your ship."

"What?!" Exclaimed the pilot. "It ain't a nursery! Hey, get back here!"

He gave Cloud, Tifa, and the remnants a furious scowl. Tifa tried to give him an apolgetic smile, but Cid ignored her.

"You've lost it." He creid.

"it won't be too bad," Tifa began, "Reno and Rude will be here to keep an eye on them."

"More former enemies?" Cid grumbled. "Why don't we just invite Sephiroth, Hojo and the whole gang?"

"Hey!" Reno cried, "you can't compare me and Rude to them!"

Cid threw them all a filthy look. Yazoo could almost feel the resentment in the air.

"I'm with Cid," Yuffie piped up. "Those remnants are dangerous! They're like insects, or whatever Vincent said!"

"Larva." Tifa corrected.

"Exactly!" Yuffie continiued. "We can't trust them! And they're theives, they stole my materia! Cloud's materia! Whatever.."

"Sorry," mumbled the newly awakened Loz. "We're gonna change now, we promised Cloud."

Yuffie glared defiantly at the remnants, whilst Cid continued to scowl. Tifa sighed, making her way over the the bar of Seventh Heaven.

"Get me a drink while your over there," Reno called, as the brunette woman began clearing away empty glasses and bottles. She seemed quite exhausted, though it made sense really, espcially as they were in the early hours of the morning, and no one had gotten much sleep. Not that Yazoo slept much.

"They're in not condition to fight us." Cloud pointed out, "so while they're healing, we should show them-"

"Show them what? The light?" Cid scoffed.

"Show them how to change." Cloud finished. "It's what Aerith would want. She called Kadaj into the Lifestream, but wanted these two to stay. She was a good judge of people, she knew me better than any..." He trailed off, glancing slowly to where Tifa had stopped packing away, and had begun listening intently.

"I'm not backing down." Cid barked. "I'm going to stop Barret from turning my ship into a daycare centre."

He stormed from the room, thundering off to find Barret and the children, before they got to his precious airship. Yazoo frowned. He had seen that ship, but it didn't look anything spcial to him. Not that he wanted to get oon the wrong side of Cloud's allies. He wasn't going to share his true opinions or feelings with anyone. That is how he had survived this far. That and being a remnant of Sephroth, pumped full of Mako, and who knows what else.

"Yuffie?" Tifa asked hopefully, poking her head up from the bar she was cleaning.

"I still don't like them," the Wutainian said haughtily. She sighed, and glanced over at Tifa. "But so long as I don't have to talk to them, I'm fine with it. Oh, but they should make up for the materia they stole."

"We will, promise!" Loz answered. Yazoo was quite disgusted by how sycophantic the other remnant seemed to be at the moment. He doubted it was an act, Loz was incapable of holding two thoughts in his head at a time. Yazoo, however could benefit from this. He could act more as he wished, so long as Loz did his best to please these people. He could make a plan.


	4. Chapter 4

**What with university applications and whatever, it's taking me ages to write new stuff for fanfiction, so bear with me, and apologies if i misuse any American words i'm trying to make it sound more authentic I just want to check, 'dumpster' is a word, isn't it??**

**- - -**

It was only 7.00 in the evening, but Yazoo already felt incredibly drained. Clearly his days of kicking ass and inspiring fear in others were over. Hopefully not just yet though.

He lay on the soft bed, not having gotten ready to sleep. He wasn't ready to admit defeat just yet, a few more hours of wakefulness and then he would. Yazoo groaned. Is this really what it had come to? Fighting himself to keep awake, whilst his enemy nursed him back to health?

Across from him, Loz sat on a bed, watching Yazoo and clearly waiting for him to do or say something. The big remnant was clad in some riddiculous clothes that were far too small for him, and was wearing a concerned expression as he watched Yazoo, which made the smaller remnant scowl.

"We need to escape." Yazoo said finally. He kept his voice low, so that Cloud and his friends could not overhear.

"Why do they want us here?" Loz frowned, apparently ignoring what Yazoo had just said.

"How do I know?" He answered coldly. "It doesn't matter, so long as they _believe_ we're going to reform."

"But we're not?" Loz asked, his frown deepening.

"No." Yazoo replied. He knew the other remnant wouldn't question this judgement, which would at least make it easier to formulate a plan. Unfortunately, not much could be done whilst he was unable to walk, let alone fight his way out of Midgar.

"Where will we go?" Loz continued. "What will we do?"

"I haven't decided yet. We should fulfil our purpose."

"Why? Mother doesn't care any more." The big remnant whined tearfully. "She left us to die, and now Kadaj is gone."

"Of course!" Yazoo smirked. "That's it! We find a way to resurrect Kadaj, like that woman did with Cloud."

Yazoo began to feel excited at the thought of a plan forming. The circumstances were completely different to what Cloud's had been, as he had merely been shot, whereas Kadaj had turned into vapour. That didn't matter though, it was clearly possible to prevent people from entering the lifestream, even though they appear to be dead. If this 'Aerith', whom the others speak so highly of, could resurrect Cloud, then surely Yazoo and Loz could force her to do the same with Kadaj...or even, Sephiroth? No, maybe not that, just Kadaj, for now. The only problem was reaching this miracle-working woman.

"What about big brother?" Asked Loz, beginning to irritate Yazoo with his desire to ruin the plan. "He wants us to be part of his family now, shouldn't we-"

"_He_ is the one who killed Kadaj, stole our chance to reunite with Mother! It is _his _fault that we even need to do this. Or did you forget?"

"I didn't forget! I'll help get Kadaj back, I will!"

"I thought as much." Yazoo hissed quietly. "Don't cry."

"I'm not!" Loz cried, rubbing his eyes furiously. "I just don't understand why we have to do this. We don't have to, do we? Cloud's being nice now, can't we just...Well what about the Turks? They're gonna be watching us."

"Well then, we make sure they have no concerns about our sanity. We act like Cloud and his friends, then when the Turks think we're reforming and fitting in, we make our move."

- - -

There was the quiet sound of sweeping coming from the bar, but other than that it was silent. Loz wandered down the stairs, trying to remember how Yazoo had told him to act around Cloud's friends and the Turks.

He couldn't see any Turks, which was definitely a good thing, so he approached Tifa, who appeared to be sweeping, but was watching him out of the corner of her eye. Maybe Yazoo was right about them being suspicious.

"I'm hungry." He told her.

"Neither of you had any food last night." Tifa pointed out as she straightened up, leaning on her broom. "Is there something you want?"

"Uh...where's Cloud?"

"I think he's in the garage," she answered. "Maybe you should go and look for him"

Loz avoided her suspicious stare, and wandered out of the building. It wasn't an especially sunny day, quite cloudy and cold really, but he thought it was great. It was the first time in days he'd been outside, because of that hospital. He took a left, heading to the garage.

The remnant poked his head inside, spotting, not Cloud, but the red-headed Turk, Reno and that Wutainian girl, Yuffie. They broke off their conversation, staring at the newcomer with equal distaste.

"What?" Yuffie demanded.

"I'm looking for Cloud."

"He already left." She answered.

"That other remnant awake yet?" Reno asked.

"Yazoo. Yeah, he is."

"I don't care what it's called." Reno sneered. "I'm not trying to be friends with you freaks, Tseng said I had to babysit. Anyway, I'm gonna go make sure that remnant's not making Jenova-shrines in his room, or whatever you freaks do when you're not trying to destroy the world."

He pushed past Loz, turning back as he reached the garage door. "Oh yeah, Rude'll be here eventually, but the boss has got him looking through trash for something."

He grinned at the thought of his partner, stood in a dumpster full of rubbish. It made Reno's task of looking after psychopaths look like fun. The redhead left to contend with Yazoo, and Loz turned back to Yuffie, hoping he appeared friendly. What was it Yazoo had told him normal people do? Smile and offer to help them with things.

He attempted to smile in a non-creepy way at the Wutainian girl. She pulled a face.

"You swallow a bug or something?" She asked. "Your face is weird."

"Um, no." Loz answered. He wasn't sure if that had worked. At least she wasn't shouting at him. Maybe he should try the other piece of advice and smile at the same time. "I want to do something with you."

Yuffie backed away, shaping her hands into fists and glaring at him. "I told Tifa you two were weird. Weird remnants...get out of here!"

"But I want to do something with you." Loz repeated. He was sure this wasn't the kind of reaction he was meant to be provoking from them.

"Stay away or you'll be sorry!" Yuffie threatened.

"But-"

"PERVERT!" She yelled, darting out of the garage door and making for the bar. "Tifa! Tifa! I told you they were weird!"

Loz stood in the middle of the empty garage, not sure what to do. One thing was for sure, he didn't intend to take any more advice from Yazoo on how to make friends.

- - -

**I intend to make to the next chapter about Reno's first day or so babysitting Yazoo thanks for reading!!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's notes: Phew!! thanks for waiting so long!! i'm useless when it comes to updating!! anyways, i hope this was worth the wait hopefully it won't take so long next time, but don't hold me to it…**_

* * *

A pair of venomous green eyes stared at Reno from within the darkened room. The redhead flicked the lightswitch on, shaking his head at the self-pitying remnant who was sat on his bed, entangled in the sheets with a scowl on his pale face.

Reno decided to open the curtains, and the windows, to try and purge the strange sour smell that hung in the air. What the hell were those remnants keeping in here? Seeing the remnant was in no mood for being entertaining, Reno took it upon himself to rummage through the belongings that were crammed into drawers. He pulled out a large sock, lifting it gingerly to his nose and inhaling. He gagged, clutching his stomach. At least he'd found the source of the bad smell. Reno tossed the sock towards the open window, but instead of fluttering outside, the sock got caught in a brief gust of wind and landed on Yazoo's head.

The silver-haired remnant was outraged. "Is this your idea of nursing me back to health? Do you expect me to recover when you're trying to poison me."

"Don't get your panties all in a knot," Reno replied, turning his back on the remnant.

"Is that how you want it then?" Yazoo hissed.

"Want what?" The Turk rolled his eyes as her turned back to the remnant, getting a face-full of underwear, ornaments, a shoe, a few marbles, not to mention a whole load of other random objects. He pouted at the sneering remnant. If the remnant wanted to play stupid games, then Reno was more than willing to participate. It would make a fine change from the last few days, in which he had attempted to strike up a conversation with the unsociable remnant, and received nothing but icy glares and the odd scream.

He grabbed a massive shoe from the floor, chucking it at the remnant. It struck Yazoo in the chest, eliciting a painful cry from the remnant. As the Turk searched for something else to throw, Yazoo swiped a lamp from his bedside table, and aimed it at the preoccupied redhead.

As Reno faced him, clock in hand, Yazoo launched the lamp at his face, causing the redhead to stagger backwards into the door. The remnant latched his hands round Reno's leg, yanking it upwards so that the Turk was thrown onto his back. Reno groaned, letting go of the clock and instead using his hand to rub his throbbing head. The effort caused Yazoo to pitch forwards, falling out f his bed and onto the floor with a painful grunt.

"I can't even walk, but I still beat you." Yazoo pointed out imperiously. "Again."

"You cheated." Reno snapped, propping himself up on his elbows. "And I'm not allowed to kick your ass, remember? As much as I want to. What the hell's wrong with you anyway, throwing lamps at me?"

Yazoo raised a silver eyebrow, unimpressed as the Turk massaged his head. "You never said I couldn't. Why shouldn't I defend myself, you attacked me with a sock. Now get out!"

"Aww, just when I thought we could be friends." Reno smirked, getting to his feet. "I'm not going anywhere, so get your ass back in bed."

"How?" Yazoo demanded, gesturing to his injured legs.

"You can't be serious." Reno shook his head. "Don't tell me I'm gonna have to pick you up."

"No!" Yazoo snapped, dragging himself away from the advancing Turk and lashing out pathetically with his hands or anything else he could grab hold of.

It was no good. Reno batted the remnants arms aside, grabbing hold of him in a surprisingly strong grip, and guiding him to the bed. He lowered Yazoo onto it, before quickly stepping backwards, as though he feared another lamp-attack from the remnant.

"Now you can't say I'm not a good babysitter. " He grinned.

Yazoo grabbed a hairbrush and threw it at Reno's smug face. The redhead cried out, annoyed by the difficult remnant.

"Screw it!" He exclaimed. "I give up!"

Reno threw the hairbrush out of the window then stamped out of the room and down the stairs. A few moments later, Yazoo heard the sounds of the redheaded Turk complaining exceptionally loudly to whomever was down there. He glanced over at the window thoughtfully. Now he'd need a new hairbrush.

* * *

"I'm not a child, I don't need to be supervised," Yazoo glowered from where he sat miserably in his bed.

He was actually feeling remarkably better than he had been over the past few days. So far, every time he woke up, Reno had been hanging around like a bad smell, keeping an eye on him whilst making stupid comments, so Yazoo had just slept, except for yesterday and today, during which he had felt strong enough to bicker with his minder.

"Maybe you don't_ look_ like a kid, but you sure act like one." Reno replied from where he stood in the doorway. Yesterday, inanimate objects were thrown at him just before Yazoo collapsed with fatigue. He wasn't running the risk of the same drama happening again. "Besides, aren't you two years old or something stupid like that?"

"And you're supposed to be a Turk, some sort of _elite_, yet you fight like a little girl." Yazoo observed coldly.

Reno bristled. "You _look_ like a little girl, so we're even."

"I still don't like you watching me," the remnant scowled, his hand edging closer to the hairbrush on his bedside table, which Reno was sure he'd thrown ut of the window the day before. Reno was wary. The last thing he wanted was a brush tangled in his hair after it had taken ages to perfect the style that very morning. Rude called it vanity. Reno called it pride in his appearance.

"That makes two of us," He commented. "Besides, you should be thankful."

"For what?" Yazoo hissed.

"Maybe 'cause Cloud and his little gang took you in even though you tried to kill them, the city, and yeah, the whole planet. I wouldn't have done it."

"Yet you're here, nursing me back to health," the remnant smirked.

"Hey!" Reno snapped, waving a fist at the sneering silver haired man, "I'm not_ nursing_ anybody, so don't think I'm gonna bring you food, change your bandages, or give you a bed bath, alright? I'm just here to make sure you don't run away and try to kill everyone again."

Yazoo stared icily at him. How exactly was he supposed to run away and kill people when he had a broken leg? Reno was infuriating him, yet he still preferred the Turk's presence to being alone in the darkened room, or having Tifa stare at him like he was about to try and eat her spleen. NO! He didn't enjoy having Reno around, all he needed was Kadaj, and Loz. Particularly Kadaj. He was crueller, but much more intelliegent than Loz. Talking to the big remnant was about as useful as talking to the wall.

"I already had a family," he hissed.

"What, two remnants, a psycho mamma's boy and an evil talking head? Sounds perfect." Reno smirked, having calmed down rapidly.

"You're not funny," Yazoo spat. "What would you understand?!"

"Get a grip," the redhead sighed. "The 'nobody loves me' routine is so old."

"Leave me alone, Turk." Yazoo murmured, feeling tired again. At least if he gave up and slept, Reno might just leave him alone for a while.

"Only when you act like a good boy," he grinned, the last few words drowned out by a shrill ringing. The redhead felt around in his jacket, producing a small mobile phone and flipping it open. "Hey…what the hell, man?! How can you lose him, the guy's the size of a truck…Yuffie, huh? What…yeah, I'm looking at him right now, why don't you say 'hi', sweetheart?" He offered the phone to a resentful Yazoo.

"No?" Reno grinned. "Too bad they don't make remnants with good manners. Yeah, I'll help. What would you do without me?… I think the words you're looking for, are 'thank you'." He grinned, flipping it shut and turning to Yazoo, who was watching him with a curious expression.

"I see your partner has lost Loz." He observed with glee.

"Nope, the big freak's just bugging Yuffie. Looks like he's trying to make friends, maybe you should try it instead of sitting there self-pityingly."

"No, thank you." The remnant glared. He threw himself back into the bed pulling the covers over his head. He didn't want to speak anymore to the annoying Turk.

"Stay there." Reno instructed him, heading for the door. "I'll be back before you even wake up."

"I doubt that." Yazoo whispered, more to himself than to the departing Turk. He waited silently until Reno had descended the stairs, then he dragged the covers off and pushed himself into a sitting position. He grinned, as an idea struck him.

Tifa burst into the bar, which had been empty except for Rude, Reno, and the dejected Loz. Reno had gone to help Rude find his charge, who only seemed t have got as far as the bottom of the street after his misunderstanding with Yuffie, who had long since disappeared.

After they'd retrieved him, they'd decided to sit in the bar and celebrate their victory over the remnants. As Tifa was about to tell them, however, this victory was to be short-lived.

They looked up, intrigued by the shocked expression n her face.

"What's wrong?" Reno asked. "You look like you walked in on Rude in the shower."

"Shut up," grumbled the bald Turk. "That was one time. _One time._ Just drop it."

Reno shrugged as Tifa drew closer to them, as though Loz might eavesdrop. Reno doubted he was smart enough to even think of doing that.

"It's Yazoo," she explained. "He's disappeared."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

This was just impossible! How the hell did someone who can't even walk, escape from a buliding, when the only exist was through the bar where four people were sat, and would have noticed him leave?

There would be hell to pay if Tseng found out he'd screwed up and that there was a remnant wandering the streets, with the ability to turn into Sephiroth at any moment. It would be Reno doing the dumpster dives next time, not Rude, if this got out.

He glanced at his partner, who seemed a little concerned that Yazoo had vanished, but also quite smug that his own remnant was in plain view, playing with a coaster and sitting on the floor, like some disturbing vision of a five-year-old.

"What should we do?" Tifa asked, though she didn't really want their opinions, she ws just talking to herself. "I'll call Cloud, see if he knows anything."

She disappeared, a disturbed expression on her face.

"That makes sense," Reno grumbled to himself, "the remnant's missing, but maybe the one person he hates more than anyone else, knows where he is."

He got to his feet, striding over to where Loz was still playing on the floor. He towered over the remnant, a superior expression on his face. "Hey, remnant."

"Who, me?" Loz asked, looking about as though there was a chance that Reno was talking to someone else. The redhead shook his head in disbelief, quite certain that the remnant was getting stupider by the day. It wasn't promising, considering he'd started off with the brain power of a mashed potato.

"Who else?" Reno answered. "D'you have something to do with this? Are you two planning something?"

Before the blank-faced remnant could reply, Rude interrupted, "He's been sat here the whole time, he's not involved. Just because your remnant's a psycho, it doesn't mean mine is too."

"Wake up, man!" Reno cried. "They're all insane, that's how we wound up here!"

He narrowed his eyes at the one remaining silver-haired madman. It wouldn't have surprised him, if while he and Rude had been having a drink, Loz had floated up through the ceiling, dropped Yazoo off somewhere, before drifting back down to his seat. Afterall, their mother was a severed head and had been pumped full of Mako for the past couple of years, so their hardly conformed to the boundaries of normal people.

"Cloud hasn't seen him!" Tifa called back predictably. "Are you gonna go look, Reno?"

He turned round, waiting expectantly for his partner to get up and offer to help. After a few minutes, it became irritatingly clear that Rude didn't intend to go anywhere.

"You're not gonna help?" The redhead demanded.

"You lost the remnant, you've gotta find him."His bald partner replied.

"You're getting lazy, man." Reno informed him casually. "No wonder you're piling on the pounds these days. But.. if you're not helping, I'll take your remnant with me. Maybe these things come with tracking devices."

Before Rude could protest at his friend's insinuation, the other man was gone, the huge remnant trailing after him.

Reno was sure his partner was getting lazy. And moody. These periods of time seemed to occur quite frequently, and he was beginning to wonder if Rude was menopausal.

The unlikely pair wandered through the grey streets, with no real destination in mind. He didn't expect Yazoo to be anywhere exciting, seeing as that remnant had spent the last several days inhabiting his own morose thoughts, and attempting to cut himself off from everyone else. Reno thought he deserved a pay-rise from all the crap he'd put up with from that hysterical remnant.

He needed to think logically. If someone was miserable, and seemed to do nothing but try and make themselves even more so, where would be the first port of call?

Reno stopped, deciding to see if Loz had anything useful to contribute.

"So, where is he?"

The remnant shrugged unhelpfully, provoking an irritated noise from the smaller man.

"Can you people smell each other or something?" Reno asked, clutching at straws.

"No..." Loz answered, a puzzled look making him appear even dimmer, though the fact that he was wearing clothes at least three sizes too small didn't exactly help him there.

"You'd think they would've made you people with some kind of tracker, in case one gets lost. I want a refund."

He cringed as he noticed the remnant had lapsed into floods of tears, snivelling into his sleeve. There was something very disturbing about seeing a man of that size dissolve into tears like a small child. Reno thought Rude had definitely pulled the short straw. His own remnant may be volatile, and a flight risk, but at least he wasn't creepy. If it had been anyone else, Reno might have considered comforting them- afterall, he wasn't heartless- but he didn't get paid enough to start cuddling a huge remnant.

Reno glanced around, trying to find some method of escape from the silver-haired wreck. Lady Luck must have been smiling on him, because at that very moment, a familiar face came into view.

"Yuffie, get over here!" He yelled at the unsuspecting Wutainian girl.

She spotted him, bounding over with a childish grin on her face and a bag strapped to her back. He wouldn't have been entirely surprised if it was full of stolen goods. That girl could promise all she wanted, she had about as much chance of reforming as those remnants did.

"Can you look after him for a second?" He grinned mischievously, gesturing at the blubbering remnant. "I'll be right back."

Reno spun round, sprinting off in the opposite direction and diving into a side-street to avoid pursuit. He'd leave the children to their own devices, he had a remnant to find.

Yuffie laid a hand on her hip, staring down the street with a frown on her face. She glanced at the tearful remnant and gave a small sigh as she realised she'd just been tricked.

"He's not coming back, is he?"

It was remarkable what a little fresh air and solitude could do for the spirit. Perched atop a chunk of metal, surrounded by the wreckage his little family had created, Yazoo felt more contented than he had done for a long time.

He wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but something within his mind had insisted he come here, and if that desire was strong enough for him to struggle to this place on his weak legs, then it was surely worth a little wait.

What was it that had told him to come here? Mother? Kadaj? Sephiroth?

A part of him hoped it wasn't the last voice that had been speaking to him. He had seen how it had terrorised Kadaj and he didn't want to suffer the same way. It didn't help that his so-called 'new family' all watched him with wary eyes, as though he could turn at any moment. They didn't regard Loz in the same way, perhaps because he was too simple. Yazoo on the other hand, seemed too explosive. Even Reno, who maintained a casual, humorous attitude seemed to be watching him suspiciously.

So be it. If they all expected that he was unable to be anything other than a malicious psychopath, like Sephiroth, then why disappoint them?

He would wait, until whoever was speaking to him had appeared, and then he would know what course of action to take.

"Are you following me?" Yuffie demanded, leaping round, and catching the remnant in mid-step.

"No..." He replied, wiping his eyes and nose on his sleeve. The sudden disappearance of the other remnant really seemed to be getting to him. In Yuffie's books, that meant bad news, the other one must be up to something, and this one was surely in on it. He blew his nose into the sleeve.

"Eww! That's _disgusting_!" She exclaimed, wrinkling her nose and pressing her eyes shut. If she couldn't see it, it wasn't there. When she got her hands on Reno, she was going to slap him until he cried.

After a couple of minutes, she opened her eyes. Much to her disappointment, the big remnant was still stood there, watching her expectantly. Surely he didn't think that she was going to entertain him until Reno returned?

"Go away!" She yelled, stamping down the dusty street, the contents of her bag rattling around conspicuously.

"Play with me," he whined, trailing after her like a lost dog. It seemed she wasn't going to shake him off any time soon.

"Go play with Tifa, I'm sure she'll let you smash her face through a wall again." She called back.

"I promised I wouldn't," he insisted. "I just want to play, and no one gets hurt."

Yuffie stopped abruptly, causing the remnant to slam into the back of her, almost knocking her off her feet. "Watch it!" She cried, frowning childishly as she thought what advantages this could have. On second thought, she didn't care. She didn't welcome remnants tagging along, especially not the kind that were made of Sephiroth and had tried to kill her friends. "Shoo! I've got important things to do!"

"Like what? Stealing?" He replied, glaring at her and folding his arms.

Yuffie regarded him curiously. Why was he suddenly getting on his high-horse? He was the untrustworthy one, not her, so he couldn't start telling her it was wrong to take other people's things. She had enough of that kind of talk from Tifa.

"Who said I was going to steal anything?" She replied warily, rising up to her full height to try and seem more intimidating.

"I heard them talking about it in the bar."

Her mouth fell open, the new distraction making her forget that she was meant to be shaking him off and getting back to her own business. She pointed her finger at him, an accusatory tone in her voice. "Who was talking about me?"

"Uhh..." He scratched his head, a confused expression returning to his face as he tried to remember the names of the perpetrators. "Tifa, the guy who smokes...and the man with the big feet."

Yuffie gasped, knowing instantly who he was referring to. "That's so unfair! I'd expect it from Tifa and Cid, but not Vincent! What did they say, they think I can't stop myself? They have no right to judge the talented _Yuffie Kisaragi_! They're just jealous that they don't have my skill, my intelligence." She turned away, gazing into the skies as she pictured the images of her grandeur which often accompanied her speeches.

"But aren't those things you stole?" Loz asked, dragging her back to reality and he pointed at the heavy bag strapped to her back.

She spun round, cuddling it protectively in her arms. "Why should I tell _you_?"

Unable to provide an answer, the remnant was abandoned again as Yuffie set off down the street again. She didn't want to hang around and wait for him to get smart with her. Wasn't Rude supposed to be keeping an eye on him? A great job he was doing! She always knew those Turks were good for nothing.

"Wait!" Loz called, racing after her. "Where are you going? Can I come too?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. He must really be desperate to help her. Come to think of it, it could be useful to have an understudy. "You want to help me?"

He nodded enthusiastically.

Yuffie's face softened into a mischievous grin. "Wow, I never thought I'd have someone to pass my wisdom on to. I don't just steal, you know. I clean up the streets, saving the world from bad guys, it's kinda our thing in AVALANCHE."

She waved a hand, beckoning her new accomplice with her as she strolled down a back alley in search of excitement. It would make an interesting change for her to be the one bossing someone else around, leading the group, instead of waiting around for someone else, like Cloud, to make their mind up about whether of not to fight the bad guys, too busy wading around in their issues. Yuffie wanted to get stuck in to something fun.

Reno could feel something ominous as he ascended the rubble which rose to the spot where Kadaj had 'died'. He couldn't really think of it as death, as he wasn't sure just how alive the remnant had been, but it didn't matter, he knew this was where Yazoo would be. There was nothing like the scene of a loved one's death to make someone even more miserable, and the remnant seemed to seek that kind of emotion.

He reached the summit of the crumbled buildings and roads, a cold breeze making him shiver. He could hear a faint noise, like whispering voices reaching him through the vicious wind.

As Reno drew closer, the scene seemed to match what he had been hearing.

The slender remnant was on his knees, trembling and murmuring to himslef. The place was deserted, but he was whispering urgently, as though there was someone else. He was breathing heavily, and Reno had the feeling he'd just missed something major.

Nevertheless, he edged closer, not wanting to alarm the disturbed remnant and cause him to do something drastic. Contrary to popular belief, he'd learnt a few tricks in his years with the Turks.

He heard an exhausted sigh issue from Yazoo's lips, and dropped to the remnant's side just in time to catch him as he slumped forwards, unconscious.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's notes: I'M BAAAAACCCKKKK!! So I suppose everyone thought I'd dropped off the face of the Earth? Course I didn't, my internet did, for 10 bloody months. Well, I'm back! And I haven't been sitting on my backside these past months... well... I have, but I've but writing as well, intermittently. Anyway, for those faithful souls who still want to read, here it is. **

**...**

CHAPTER SEVEN

Reno stared about the deserted crumbling building that overlooked the remains of the city. There wasn't another soul in sight, no one that the remnant could have been talking to. His sudden lapse into unconsciousness could be explained by his trek all the way over here, which must have took its toll on his recovering body, but somehow Reno felt there was more to the whole situation than a remnant seeking solace at the location of his brother's death.

"What the hell...? Wake up, remnant!" he shook the remnant lightly, pausing slightly before using his name. He was still a little reluctant to give the remnant the status of a normal person, given all he'd done, what he was. "Yazoo?"

He grumbled under his breath, keeping a firm grip on Yazoo's arm, he slid an arm round the remnant's waist in an attempt to pull him to his feet. Yazoo, still unconscious, fell against him, and Reno struggled to support the weight of the other man. He was only fairly small himself, and didn't think it would be so easy to lug him all the way back to his car.

It occurred to Reno that it might cause a bit of a stir if he took him straight back to Seventh Heaven, and something told him that he wasn't willing to put the remnant in a position where he might be questioned about his condition. He tried to shake off this uncomfortable feeling, and resolved to take Yazoo back to his own apartment. So long as he could carry him to the car first.

First, Reno attempted a modified fireman's lift, before realising just why firemen were always so beefy, and dropping the remnant on his backside. He cursed loudly – who was around to hear anyway – and hoped he hadn't just screwed the remnant up even more.

Eventually he just ended up half-dragging him to the car, and easing him as gently as possible into the passenger seat. It would look very suspicious to any observers that he had an unconscious silver-haired man in his car, but he wasn't too bothered, so long as it was no one that worked for Shinra.

By the time he reached his flat, Yazoo had revived himself a little, but was still mumbling inanely. Reno regarded him with caution and irony. A few months back, who would've thought he'd be voluntarily taking a remnant of Sephiroth back to his own apartment?

Once they'd arrived, he then had to drag the remnant up several flights of stairs, grumbling all the while. He was pissed off that they still hadn't fixed that elevator. Somewhere around floor four, Yazoo mumbled an indecipherable question at Reno.

"What... I don't... why...?"

"What?" Reno grunted, tightening his grip on the remnant as he hauled him towards his floor. At least after this, he wouldn't have to work out for about a week. "Who're you talking to? What the hell happened up there?"

As he expected, there was no reply from the Yazoo –none that made sense, anyway. Just mumbling and what the Turk suspected was drool. _Just perfect._

Finally, they reached his apartment, and not having his hands free, Reno kicked open the door. He never locked it, which Rude had often said was stupid, but the way Reno figured it was if any burglar could find anything to rob in the piles of junk in his apartment, then more power to them.

He dumped Yazoo none-too-gracefully on his own bed, clearing some of the mess off it first. There was a bowl of half-eaten chips that had been there for a suspiciously long time, and had grown mould. Or at least, Reno thought there hadn't originally been green fur on them. Well, it was helping the environment, the food-chain and all the rest of it. He'd clean up later, or get the remnant to do it. After all the crap he'd put with lately, it would be the least Yazoo could do.

He lingered in the doorway, gazing at the sleeping remnant. He looked quite peaceful, and a hell of a lot less resentful and bitter than when he was awake. Reno shrugged this haze off, and headed for his bathroom cabinet. He had to have something that could wake him up.

"C'mon, there's gotta be something in here to fix you up," he began, half calling to the unconscious man in the other room, and half rambling to himself. "Hey, you got a headache... there's plenty in here for that... sleeping pills... diarrhoea-relief tablets? Ahem, must be Rude's. Hey, look what we have here. This should do the trick."

He snatched up a small canister containing some pills he had acquired to help himself stay awake during long, dull missions, and he sure knew there were enough of those lately, present one excluded, of course. Never a dull moment with Yazoo.

With a complacent grin, he headed back towards the bedroom, holding the pills up high for Yazoo to see. Which he might have done, had Reno not been staring at an empty bed. He threw a reluctant glance at the front door, he saw it hanging open, in the wake of what was obviously another of Yazoo's escapes.

"Son of a bitch! What the hell's wrong with you people?! What dumbass made these freaks flight risks?

Reno dropped the pills, which the remnant _obviously_ wouldn't be needing now, and sprinted from his apartment, hoping to catch up with Yazoo. As far as he knew, the remnant didn't know the area well, and though his leg was nearly mended, and it would still slow him down and he might be a little groggy. Still, Reno didn't want to take any chances. He stopped outside his apartment block, staring about the street. No sign of the remnant. He pulled out his phone, and called for back-up.

"He's gone, man. Again!"

"How did you lose him _twice?" _replied the voice of Rude, sounding pretty sore. Reno seriously wondered if his partner had PMS. Only women could be this moody.

"It ain't my fault! I swear, I didn't take my eyes off him, 'cept when I went to the bathroom."

Rude sighed. "Couldn't you just hold it in until you had the situation under control?"

"What? I wasn't going to the can, I was looking for some pills for the damn remnant," Reno scowled, wondering if his partner really thought that he was _that_ much of a moron that he'd go use the toilet when dealing with the flight-risk remnant of a psychopath. He shook his head. "That doesn't matter, just get your ass over here and help me look!"

"Alright, alright, but you know Tseng's going to have your ass for this."

Reno winced, glancing down the street as if he expected the Turk to jump out from behind a mailbox and give him a lecture. If he didn't, someone else would, it was like destiny. "Shit, you didn't tell him, did you?"

"Didn't have to, he knows what's happened. He's right here... or he was, a few seconds ago. The boss, too."

"Damn it!" Reno exclaimed. He flipped his phone shut, glancing round the street. He needed to find that remnant. His boss was involved now, and he wasn't risking his own ass for a damn remnant.

...

The warehouse was silent. If Yuffie hadn't been forewarned, she wouldn't have believed there were a couple of dozen gangsters lurking within. She shadowed the wall, moving silently, though the same couldn't be said for her partner in crime, who was lumbering along irritatingly noisily behind her and asking questions every few minutes.

"Psst, Yuffie," he whispered loudly. Again.

"Shhh!" she hissed back. "They might hear!"

"Who might? What are we even here for?"

"Shh, we're here for the materia they have."

"You're stealing it?" he asked, sounding all self-righteous again. He had some cheek, seeing as his little gang were psychos.

"They stole it first!" Yuffie answered defensively, stopping in her tracks. She didn't like people accusing her of things, especially not sociopaths like Loz. So she'd turn the blame-game back round to him. "No, wait, you guys stole it first from Cloud, then they found it."

"Yeah, we dropped it just before," he snivelled, "K-Kadaj died and Yazoo... shot b-big brother."

"Oh, brother. You're not gonna cry, are you?" she really didn't need that, unless it would freak the guards out so much that they just ran away. That said, half the fun was in the beating up of bad guys. What kind of hero would just let them run away? She rolled her eyes at the snivelling mountain of a man.

"I'm not crying," he replied unconvincingly, rubbing his eyes vigorously.

"Perfect." Yuffie scanned the vicinity to ensure his little performance hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. "You do exactly, _exactly_ what I tell you, and we won't have a problem. It's just down here, I scouted this place out a couple of weeks back, but there were a lot of guards."

"Heh, you couldn't take down a couple of guards."

Was he mocking her? _Him_. Mocking _her_. She scowled at the over-sized baby, deciding it was much better to have him in awe of her than insulting her. She didn't want him to think she was a pushover. Not that she cared what he thought.

"Sure I could!" she retorted. "I just didn't _want_ to, you see, _I_ am a pro, not like you. Watch and learn."

Loz remained in cover behind the wall, at her direction, but Yuffie turned her attention onto the network of low-hanging pipes overhead. She had already mapped this place out, and found out where the security cameras were on her route. After all, if she was going to steal something so precious to her, she wanted to do it properly.

She kicked off the wall, hauling herself onto the fattest pipe that ran along the ceiling. There was just enough room to crawl along it, and she figured that attacking the camera from overhead was better than running at it, and risking raising the alarm. This way, the guards might think that the camera was malfunctioning, at least until they came to check up on it.

She slithered along the pipe, leaning down so that she was hanging just over the camera, her legs hooked round the pipe. She reached for the wire behind the camera, resisting the urge to dip her head down and flash the guards a glimpse of her upside-down smiling face. Yanking the wires, she flipped from the pipes and landed neatly on the ground, just as Loz emerged from behind the wall.

"See? They don't call me Yuffie the Magnificent for nothing," she grinned proudly, planting her hands on her hips.

"They call you that?" Loz asked, his brow furrowing as he tried to figure out if she was lying. It looked almost cute. Almost.

"...Sure they do," Yuffie replied, deciding it would be quite easy to convince him of anything. Maybe that's why he ended up trying to help the others, because he's easily duped. She bit her lip, mentally chiding herself for trying to excuse him from his actions. She didn't like remnants at all. The only reason she let him tag along was because a big tough guy might come in handy, provided he didn't cry when the bad guys turned up.

"You're much nicer than Reno said," Loz commented, interrupting her strange train of thought.

"What? What did Reno say about me?"

"Umm... nothing?"

"Liar! You just said he did! Tell me!" Yuffie grabbed a fistful of his shirt in what was supposed to be an intimidating manner, but given her small stature, it just looked daft.

"Promise you won't get mad," Loz asked, regarding her hand uneasily. Perhaps her gesture _was_ having the desired effect, which made very little sense, given the fact he could probably squash her.

"Tell me!"

"You're getting mad!"

"Ugh, I mean it, Loz!"

"Okay, okay!" he gave in, looking rather guilty. "Reno said that _sometimes_ you're bossy... and annoying... and stubborn..."

Yuffie let out a dramatic sigh. Somehow it didn't surprise her that he would besmirch her good name... well, her name... in front of someone who hadn't formed their own opinion of her yet. "I get the picture. Reno's such an ass. And he's a Turk."

"And he said you're good in bed," Loz added, as though it were a casual afterthought that he could just slip in afterwards.

"What?" She demanded, grabbing the remnant by the shirt and shaking him as best she could in a threatening manner. "What?! That little... argh! He's _such_ a freakin'... ARGH! Oh, I am so gonna kick his bony little ass. No one says stuff like that about Yuffie Kisaragi and gets away with it. _Men!_ Hate them all." She pouted. She went one date, _one_ _bad date_ with Reno, not even a _real_ date, and he goes whining to other people about her and spreading rumours. Yuffie glanced up at the big remnant who was staring at her in a 'three-legged-puppy' kind of way. "Quit looking at me like that."

...

It was just a little further. Just a little further, and then he could rest.

Yazoo was exhausted. Every muscle in his body was screaming at him to just lie down by the side of the road and sleep, but the voice was more compelling.

Perhaps Reno was looking for him by now, but he wouldn't get far, seeing as Yazoo had stolen his car. A small part of him felt guilty, when it was obviously Reno who had carried him all the way back to his apartment, tried to help him out. But then Yazoo was reminded that the Turk was just doing his job, these actions weren't out of the kindness of his heart. He'd send him back to Shinra in a heartbeat, if it was asked.

He paused, leaning on one of the many fluorescent white trees that lined the road of the Forgotten City. Kadaj had spoken to him, he was sure of it. Yazoo wasn't an especially superstitious guy, but when he head gone to those ruins, where his brother had joined the Lifestream, he had been sure that he sensed him, heard his voice.

Kadaj, always the leader, always knowing what to do; he had told him to head for the lake at the heart of the forest, that was his destination. There, he would reveal the next part of the plan, which Yazoo knew involved that woman that Cloud and his friends spoke so highly of, the one that Sephiroth killed. _She_ could resurrect him, and they would find a way to either convince her, or force her. If she really had spared him and Loz – not that he believed she had done any such thing – then why not Kadaj too? He'd been purged of Sephiroth, couldn't she have saved him? Well, he would make her do it, that was his purpose now.

There was something unsettling about Kadaj though. He didn't seem quite the same way as he had in life. Almost like a different person, sometimes, despite having assured Yazoo that he was indeed his brother. His childish streak and his patience with the other remnants had vanished, to be replaced with a cold voice, spurring him on with scathing reminders of his position in life. Perhaps that was just how death affected people. It would be remedied soon enough.

...


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Yuffie grinned as she and her subordinate neared the vault where the materia, not to mention certain other valuables were being kept. She pressed her back against the wall, glancing round the corner for a brief moment to check the way was clear of guards. Miraculously, the vault door was deserted, except for one solitary camera, positioned above the huge door. There was a lock, naturally, but it was manual, not electronic, and therefore should be a breeze.

Taking out the surveillance camera with similar tactics to what she'd used on the last one, Yuffie started on the door, ordering Loz to keep watch while she worked. If anything, the lock was just flashy; to scare off any potential thieves, but any thief with half a brain could break into this. These gangsters were obviously amateurs, and no match for her skill.

"Yuffie..." the remnant asked tentatively. Given the simplicity of the lock, Yuffie figured she could give him the time of day, and nodded her head so that he continued his question. She still didn't get why he was so keen for her approval, but it made a change. "You don't really hate men, do you?"

"Some of 'em," she answered with a rueful grin. "Like Cid! He's always talking to me like I'm a little kid... thinks he's _so_ smart, just 'cause he's old."

"I think you're..."

"Hey! Stop right there!" a guard shouted, cutting Loz's sentence short. Yuffie scowled. That explained why there was no one guarding the vault; they must have found out the camera was disabled and set an ambush. Maybe they weren't such amateurs after all.

She figured Loz could hold off a few guards for a minute while she grabbed the materia, and sure enough, the remnant had already launched himself at the gangsters, smashing the nearest one into the wall as he reached for a gun.

Yuffie grinned as the vault door eased open, and she feasted her eyes on the sparse treasures within. There were a few pieces of priceless art, prototype electronic goods that wouldn't be on the market for another few years, weapons, and behold: the materia!

Dropping by the side of the small crate, she gathered the fluorescent orbs into her arms, cradling them as one might hold a small child. They _were_ her children. She had never seen anything so beautiful, not to mention powerful. It would be very likely that she'd sacrifice her own arm to have them, but preferably someone else's arm. Dragging herself out of her triumphant stupor, she quickly shovelled a few materia orbs into the small knapsack she'd brought, disappointed that she couldn't fit them all in. She could give the remaining ones to Loz to carry, but she didn't really trust him with them. Maybe she could just carry them and try to outrun the guards? Elusiveness and speed were her friends, after all. Eventually Yuffie decided to just grab the whole crate, which wasn't _too_ heavy, and hope she could run fast enough.

A bullet embedded itself in the wall next to Yuffie, inches from her head. She figured it was time to leave. A guard trained his gun on her, but Loz broke his wrist, despite the fact the remnant was clearly becoming overwhelmed by the increasing number of guards.

"Run!" Yuffie yelled at him as she turned on heel herself, and darted down the corridor, weaving in and out of the maze of passages. She heard the sound of a tazer-gun being used, and glanced over her shoulder. She was alone in the empty corridor. Fighting the urge to keeping running until she was safely out of the building, Yuffie paused. The question hung in the air: should she go back and help Loz, or escape before the guards could get their hands on the materia?

...

Still, Yazoo had not moved from his position next to the towering tree. He was far too tired to move, and his leg, although almost completely healed, was a bit shaky from disuse during the past weeks. It hurt him that Kadaj was forcing him to push on, knowing full well how painful it was, the ache in his head, the strange numb feeling that had flowed into every nerve-end.

"_Move, Yazoo,"_ Kadaj commanded, his cold voice filling Yazoo's mind. _"You need to get to the lake."_

"Kadaj, I can't, my head hurts so much."

"_You can't rest yet, don't you want me to be with you?"_

"Of course I do!" Yazoo quickly assured the cruel voice before it sent spasms of pain through his body again. He couldn't believe Kadaj would be so cruel to his own brother. "I do..."

"_That's good, that's very good. Soon we'll all be together again, and we will be able to kill Cloud Strife."_

That gave Yazoo pause. "Kill him? But I can't, not after all he's done for me and Loz."

"_I thought you hate him?"_

"I... I do, but, I can't kill him. He saved my life..." his head seared with pain as Kadaj punished him for his insubordination. He was sure this wasn't Kadaj, how could it be? His brother had never wanted to kill Cloud, so why would he want to now, when he had been at peace with him at the end? It made no sense; the voice had said it was Kadaj. Why would it trick him?

He couldn't do it. Since Kadaj had died he'd convinced himself that he needed the other remnant to lead them, but despite his protests, he _did_ like this peaceful way of life he'd slipped into. It wasn't worth the risk, if it even was Kadaj's voice that was urging him on. These people had been so good to him – they didn't trust him as far as they could throw him, but they still looked after him. Reno, a Turk, who he had fought not so long ago, had adopted the role of Yazoo's carer, whether he admitted it or not. And no matter what the remnant threw at him – sometimes very literally – Reno still came back, and had tried to help him despite his reckless behaviour.

There was only one thing to do. He pulled out the phone he had taken with him and dialled a number. The voice that answered was slightly irate.

"What is it?"

"Reno, help me..." Yazoo asked, hating how weak he sounded, begging the Turk for help. He had to fight that instinct; that's what had caused Kadaj's resentful thoughts to fester inside him in the first place. "Something's wrong with me..."

"Where are you, you friggin' idiot?" Reno yelled down the phone, hurting Yazoo's already throbbing head. "We'll come and get you."

Yazoo glanced around. Last time the Turk had come here looking for him, they were sworn enemies, but he didn't think they still were, no matter what Kadaj was telling him at that moment. "On the road, just entering the Forgotten City. Please hurry, I think he might..."

Surprisingly, Reno gave a barely audible sigh. Was that concern? Whatever it was, Yazoo felt that he might just be able to trust the Turk. "I'm on my way. Sit tight."

...

After scouring the surrounding area and realising that his car had been stolen, Reno received a phone call from the missing remnant. He was shocked that the remnant would ring him at all, let alone call in order to ask for help.

"This doesn't sound good," Rude commented. He thought that Yazoo was dangerous, more volatile than Loz and perfectly capable of changing into Sephiroth at any moment, or doing Jenova's bidding. Reno assured himself that his partner was wrong, after all, _he_ had been the one watching Yazoo for the past weeks, he knew the remnant, Rude didn't. Only, he didn't _really_ know him, Yazoo had never divulged all that much detail.

"How much does the boss know?" Reno asked, remembering that _other_ little problem.

"Enough to put us in hot water. He knows we haven't been watching those remnants properly. As soon as we pick up this one, we've gotta take him to Shinra."

"Why?" Reno exclaimed, frowning slightly that he sounded so defensive.

Rude regarded him suspiciously. "Why are _you_ so bothered?"

"I'm not! I'm just saying, if they want the remnant back, it means the boss's mad, and I'm screwed. And if Tseng or Elena replaces me, that'll just suck." That was true enough. He didn't like the idea of them having to step into sort out his mess. Contrary to popular belief, Reno liked his job, and was proud of it. What he didn't tell his partner though, was his concern at what Shinra wanted with Yazoo once they took him back there. If something really was wrong with him, maybe it _was_ better if he was with people that knew about it...

"I'm gonna pay for this, ain't I?" Reno asked, thinking of his current job as babysitter, which had been infuriating at times, but still more pleasant than some of them could be. He didn't want to exchange it for something _nastier_.

"Hope you like dumpsters," Rude grinned as they dropped into his car, and set out for the Forgotten City, and the lone remnant.

...


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Sure enough, slumped against a tree by the side of the road, was the missing remnant. Rude hit the brakes, pulling up close to Yazoo as though he expected him to bolt again. He looked like crap, and Reno was pretty sure the remnant wouldn't be going anywhere soon. It looked as though he drained all of his strength, which explained why he had called the Turk up – he'd had no choice.

The redhead dropped into a crouch beside the staring remnant, who hadn't responded to their arrival with anything more that mild interest and a grim gaze. Reno grabbed him angrily by the shirt and shook him momentarily. "Hey, what the hell happened? What are you doing out here?"

"I'm scared," Yazoo whimpered unexpectedly.

He clutched Reno's shirt, burying his face into the material as he trembled silently. Was he _crying?_ Unsure of how to approach the surprise development, Reno put his arm around the remnant's shoulders, holding him securely as the other man just released the fear, rage and anxiety that had been eating him up for weeks.

Reno glanced up at Rude, who was watching the scene curiously, his astonished expression undoubtedly mirroring his partner's, but Reno figured his own shock had a slightly different cause.

The other Turk wandered off a little, as though to give his partner to some privacy. He pulled out his phone, giving the mission update that Rufus Shinra had requested. It would only be a short time until they took the remnant back there.

Seeing as his partner's back was turned, Reno decided to provide a little more comfort for the remnant. He reached for the silver hair that hung around Yazoo's face, hiding his expression, gently brushing it away so that he could see the remnant's face and perhaps finally understand what was going on inside his head.

Yazoo turned his watery turquoise eyes on the Turk, staring at him defiantly.

"Uh... it's gonna be okay," Reno ventured, though empathy wasn't his field of expertise, especially not with ex-sociopaths. He pulled the remnant to his feet, supporting him as they moved towards the parked car.

"Are you going to take me somewhere safe?" asked Yazoo, in a trusting voice that made Reno feel like a sack of crap. He had finally broken through the remnant's cold, spiteful exterior, and now he was about to take him back to the one place he would hate to return to.

"Yeah... sure."

...

After leading Loz through a network of tunnels that he doubted he could find his way back through, the guards yanked open the door of a small windowless closet, which was to serve as a holding-cell. He would've tried to fight them off, and had, but seeing he wasn't going to come quietly, the guards had clapped some handcuffs onto his wrists.

He felt miserable. Angry too, but mainly just miserable. Yazoo would probably say it was very foolish of him to have trusted one of_ them_, when they didn't trust the remnants. He'd said they would betray the pair the first chance they got. Yuffie had abandoned him, so maybe his brother was right. He wished Yazoo was here, he'd know what to do, right? He'd have formed an escape plan before they'd even reached the cells. The only plan Loz had been able to come up with had been to whack one of the guards when he wasn't looking, and that had proved a waste of time.

How was he supposed to get out if no one was going to tell him what to do? He was perfectly capable of _doing_ things, just not _thinking_ about them. 'All brawn, no brain', was what Kadaj had said before, which was why he needed Yazoo. They balanced each other out, so that they were stronger together than they were alone.

Why had Yuffie run away? He thought they were friends, seeing as she'd included him in her little game. No one ever wanted to play with him, but she had, and he thought that maybe it meant he was now being accepted by his big brother's friends. Maybe Yuffie really didn't like him after all. Maybe he was just bait, or a distraction, something like that. He was getting angrier with every self-pitying thought that floated through his head.

One of the guards held the door open, herding the remnant inside for an indeterminably long stay.

Just as Loz was considering trying to whack one of the guards again, an over-sized shruiken flew past, hitting one of his captors. He seized the opportunity and rammed the other one face first into the wall, before glancing up to see what had captivated the gangsters' attention. To his elation, a familiar figure stood atop the generator that was across the wide hall from the closet.

"As fast as a shooting star and as strong as the Bahamut, it's Yuffie Kisaragi! Fighting injustice and materia-thieves all over the world! Fight me if you dare, slimeballs!"

The remaining guards exchanged bemused glances at the arrival of this boastful young woman. Just as they collectively decided to reach for their weapons, Yuffie tossed her shruiken back into the air, where it whirled through the confined space, knocking a couple of guards onto their backs, and striking another's gun out of his hands. She somersaulted from the generator, catching her weapon just in time to smack an approaching guard round the face with it. Eager to do his part, Loz kicked the final gangster into the holding cell, barring the door with the nearby chair.

Yuffie snatched some keys from a guard's belt and released the remnant from his handcuffs.

"You came back for me?" Loz asked, still astounded that she'd returned, when he'd been so sure that she'd just abandoned him. Maybe they could be friends after all. "I thought you ran. Thanks..."

Yuffie shrugged with a grin. "No problem. Don't go assuming this makes us friends."

"Okay." He smiled. It didn't matter what she said; the fact she came back meant a great deal to him. He noticed that apart from her small knapsack, there was no sign of the spoils of their trip. "Hey, where's the materia we came for?"

"I left most of it behind, when I came back. It doesn't matter... I'll come back for it later."

Loz smiled at her, and she cocked an eyebrow at the manic grin on the remnant's face. He was certain of it now: he'd made a friend of Yuffie.

...

On the small group's arrival at their destination, Tseng and Elena had appeared to escort Yazoo to a small hospital facility that was attached to the building where Rufus Shinra now spent most of his days. He was still quite weak, though the explosion that had wounded him so seriously had been over two years ago. Despite his invalid state, it didn't make him any less respectable or formidable, and Reno was wise enough to know it was a waste of time trying to trick or lie to him.

He was seated by the side of a window in the minimally furnished room. It was in a clinical white decor, which Reno didn't think much of himself, but maybe it was to unnerve the President's visitors.

Rufus Shinra manoeuvred his wheelchair so that he was facing him, and tapped his fingers lightly on the arm on the chair as he gave what Reno expected would be a long lecture. "Releasing the remnants as we did was a huge risk, and judging from Yazoo's erratic behaviour, it's clear that he's too dangerous to have on the loose, no matter what Cloud Strife says. It also seems that you and Rude are not capable of keeping these remnants under control. I think it's better we keep him in for observation, and run some tests. I'm worried he might go the same way as Kadaj, and we can't have him out there if that happens."

"What, you're gonna lock him up, test on him?" Reno exclaimed. He didn't make a habit of speaking out of turn with Rufus Shinra, but the words flew from his mouth before he could stop them. "But I told him I was gonna put him somewhere safe!"

"Nevertheless, you've seen for yourself how easy it's been for him to just slip through your fingers. If he hadn't called you, he might've ended up getting all the way to his destination and we could have ended up with Sephiroth on our hands, not a delirious remnant."

Reno scowled; there was no arguing with Shinra. He should've expected this, really, that he wouldn't be just be acting as Yazoo's minder forever, without incident. He was frustrated with the remnant for pulling this stunt and getting himself in this situation, but another part of him was worried about Yazoo's welfare, in light of what Rufus had just said.

"Sir, can I at least see him, just to explain things?"

"In a few days," he negotiated. "He'll need some time to acclimatise."

"Yes, sir." Reno was hardly going to risk his place in the Turks by siding with a potentially dangerous remnant, was he?

...


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's notes: don't worry, this won't be my last chapter for... months. hopefully, my next few and maybe the last, will be up within the next couple of days, hopoefully meaning probably. nobody have a panic attack. that is, if there's anyone left reading this. so, where were we?**

**...**

CHAPTER TEN

With an amicable air floating around them, Yuffie and Loz strolled back to Seventh Heaven, seeing as the two remnants were still staying there, and in any case, she felt like showing Tifa the little materia that she had just obtained.

"Tifa better not whine at me about stealing. She's usually okay about it, but you said her and Vincent was talking about me behind my back, and I thought he was cool with it."

"He wasn't really saying anything bad. Tifa too. It was just the other guy," Loz answered, keen not to get anyone in trouble seeing as he was only just beginning to be accepted, though he liked the idea of Yuffie sharing her games with him instead of the others.

Just as she was about to debate the point, they entered the bar, in which sat two Turks. The bar had shut in the wee hours of the morning, and Tifa had gone, but for some reason had left them sat down there in the dingy lighting.

"Aha! I've got a bone to pick with you!" Yuffie cried at Reno, stamping over to him. She stopped short when she saw his morose expression and the whiskey he was nursing. Rude was seated next to his partner, but he only seemed to be there so that the redhead wasn't drinking alone. "What's eating you?"

Rude decided to answer, though even he wasn't sure why his partner was so dejected. "We found the remnant, but Shinra's keeping him, he wants to run some tests, make sure he's not dangerous."

"They locked him up?" Loz cried, his voice already breaking before the words even had time to resonate properly. "But... when is he coming out?"

"Never, probably," Reno said, sounding a little inebriated. He seemed to be taking the news quite badly, which seemed odd to all the witnesses, seeing as Reno and Yazoo had done nothing but bicker since they'd first met.

"We have to get him out!" Loz decided.

Rude shook his head, perhaps because he didn't want his own charge being placed on the 'threat' list. "Don't even think about it. You pull some stupid prank like that and they'll put you in there next."

"So what, we just leave his brother in there?" Yuffie argued. "In any case, I thought Shinra was supposed to be good now. Funny way of showing it."

"He's just cautious," Rude answered. "We don't know what that remnant is capable of."

Reno glanced at his partner, and then at the other two. He could see the truth in what they were saying. They _could_ try and break Yazoo out, not that he would be able to involve Rude. Even if his partner was willing, Reno didn't want him to risk his job.

Being a Turk meant everything to him, it was part of who he was, but he couldn't leave Yazoo in there, believing it was his fault and resigned to an unknown fate. He was sure the remnant wouldn't transform. It would have happened already, if it was going to.

Turning his back on his half-full glass of whiskey, the Turk grinned at the Wutainian girl and the big remnant. A plan had formed in his head, a risky plan, but a plan nonetheless.

...

A hospital smock, not unlike the one he had worn when he was first assigned to Reno as his charge, was lying on his bed. The room he had been placed in was not uncomfortable, and the only thing the doctor had done to him so far was take some blood samples, and a swab, but he knew that he was locked into his hospital room, and the window was shatterproof. It was clear that he wasn't here at his own choice, and able to free himself.

Was it a coincidence that the word 'patient' –used to describe people confined to hospital –was the same one used to describe the self-control necessary to wait without complaint? The two words seemed to go hand in hand for him. Perhaps the ones observing him were 'patients' too, but in a singular meaning of the word, because they were simply waiting for him to transform. Apparently, it was inevitable. Was that so?

He had thought he could trust Reno, he thought he'd felt that energy that crackled in the air between them, but he was clearly wrong. He was being punished for being a hypocrite, or so Kadaj claimed from within his head. He had said that they are not to be trusted, they are betrayers, especially the Turks, and now look, one of them had tricked him. He should never have called Reno.

Even Loz was one of them now, thinking he could win them over with his sycophantic behaviour. Well, that was the last time Yazoo trusted anyone other than himself. Himself, and Kadaj, who would never leave him, because he would be the one to bring his brother back to life, just as soon as he was free of this prison.

...


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The night following Yazoo's admittance to the hospital, Reno, Yuffie and Loz gathered outside the building to stage a breakout. The facility was small, and barely guarded at all, given its remote location. The only guards tonight were fellow Turks Tseng and Elena, but provided the motley crew steered clear of Rufus Shinra, they shouldn't run into the pair.

Reno was trying to ignore the knowledge that he could lose his job for doing something as stupid and reckless as this. He didn't even know _why_ he was doing this.

"You guys go see what they found in the labs, I'll go bust Yazoo out. I'll wait for you here in about an hour, but if I'm not back when you get here, leave without me and we'll meet up later."

"Gotcha," nodded Yuffie, springing off down an adjacent corridor with Loz at her heels. Reno wondered if it would have been better if Yazoo was appreciative and respectful of him as Loz was of Yuffie, but on second thought, Reno liked them with some fire in them.

He stopped, glancing around. As he expected, there was no one, probably there was just one guard outside Yazoo's room and no others within the whole building. He also knew exactly where to go, but at the risk that the alarm might be raised, he wanted to separate the rescue team, so that at least one of them could collect the files on Yazoo. If there was any truth in this Sephiroth thing, Reno wanted to see the proof.

Also, seeing as he might lose his job due to this spontaneous plan, Reno had kitted himself out in dark clothing, complete with a hood and borrowed sunglasses. If there were cameras, maybe it would work, but on second thought, maybe not. He just hoped no one found out, though he had no idea what he was going to with Yazoo once he had actually escaped with him.

...

Yuffie entered the nondescript hospital room, which was obviously where the medical records were being kept. She wasn't sure where the files on Yazoo would be, but she hazarded a guess at one of the computers and entered the system with a number given to her by Reno.

It surprised her that he cared so much about the remnant, but she couldn't really judge.

Yuffie searched through the recent files, and found Yazoo's. She skimmed through a bulk of text describing the doctors' observations and diagnosis, and gasped.

"What is it?" Loz asked, alarmed. He had been searching randomly through the rest of the room, but came over to see what she'd found.

"Oh, crap... looks like Yazoo's gone crazy. The report says he keeps talking to himself, 'displaying signs of erratic behaviour commonly associated with the psychological –'"

"What the –?" exclaimed a horrified voice from the doorway. The pair spun round to see a man clad in a white coat staring at them. Why was the doctor here so late? "You're not supposed to be in here!"

Before Yuffie had the chance to figure out why the doctor would be skulking around the hospital in the middle of the night, Loz charged at the terrified man, lifting him by the neck and rammed him up against the wall so that his feet dangled helplessly as he clawed at the remnant's hand.

"What did you do to my brother? Tell me!"

"What? I-I don't, who –"

"The remnant, dummy! Yazoo," she snapped at the doctor, staring up at the slimeball's anxious face. She didn't have time to play good cop/bad cop, so it would just have to be bad cop/bad cop. "What do these files mean?"

The scientist spluttered his reply. "The remnant, h-he's showing symptoms of mental illness, he's hallucinating, but we think he's talking to... Sephiroth. We think he might change, like the other one did."

Yuffie glanced at her companion, but she couldn't decipher the expression on his face. She was a little concerned that he might try and help the other remnant, if they had to use force against him. As much as it surprised her to think it, she didn't want to have to fight Loz.

"How do we stop it?" asked the large remnant.

"I don't know! We didn't find out yet!"

"You better be telling the truth, or Loz here'll kick your ass so hard you won't be able to sit down for a month, got it?"

The scientist nodded rapidly, and Loz banged the man's head sharply against the wall, knocking him clean out. That way, he wouldn't be able to follow them or raise the alarm. Honestly, she was surprised at the remnant for taking the initiative there; she was just going to tie him up, but this way was quicker.

"Yazoo said he was making a plan before, but he never said anything about Sephiroth." He sounded troubled, but not like he was about to go join Yazoo on a renegade mission against the world.

"We gotta get to Reno," Yuffie said, hoping Loz intended to help them, and not his borderline psychotic sibling. "He might be in danger."

...

As expected, there was only one guard standing watch outside Yazoo's room. So much for a hospital, it might as well be a prison. He quickly subdued the guard before he was recognised, and slipped the man's card-key through the reader.

Inside, sat the mournful Yazoo, glaring up at Reno viciously, as he had done on that first day when they were stuck together in the hospital.

"Reno, what do _you_ want?" he spat. Clearly, it had been as the Turk suspected; the moron blamed him, instead of realising he didn't have a choice. Maybe Yazoo just took it for granted that Reno would risk his job to help him. Why the hell should he assume that? Looks like his actions here might not be appreciated here.

"Nice to see you too, beautiful," he smirked at the remnant. "I don't have time to chat, we need to get you outta here."

Yazoo scowled, but still got to his feet, approaching slowly. "Why are you helping me, you're the one who put me in here."

"I didn't know, man! Now shut up and come with me!" Exasperated with the failing reasoning, Reno grabbed the remnant by the wrist and yanked him towards the door. Yazoo pulled a face at him, but thankfully didn't resist.

He set off at a run, dragging the silver-haired remnant after him so that he didn't wander off, as he was prone to do – Reno of all people knew that.

After waiting at the rendezvous-point for several minutes with no sign of the others, and only dirty looks from Yazoo, he decided there was no point hanging around any longer. They had his number; they could call him later, provided they were already out. Reno continued towards the exit, grinning smugly because his plan had worked out so well that the alarm hadn't been raised. Hopefully, nobody would ever know he had been there. Even Rude had been with him most of the night, until they parted ways and his bald partner headed back to his own freakishly tidy apartment. The man had OCD, Reno was certain.

Once they had cleared the facility, Reno headed for the truck he'd parked a little way away. It wasn't his, so even if they checked the tyre tracks, there was no real way to link it back to him. Not unless they were really trying to.

He had told Yuffie and Loz to meet back with him at his apartment, but in hindsight it seemed a little risky taking Yazoo back there. Firstly, he needed to drop him off at that small hut he'd found just outside the city. Well, it wasn't a _hut_ per se, but it was no palace. He just hoped the remnant wouldn't hot-foot it out of there the moment Reno pulled out of the drive.

They pulled up, and the redhead grinned at the remnant, who was regarding it with obvious distaste.

"You freed me from that place to bring me _here_. Is this where _you_ live?"

"Nope, this is where _you_ live, sweetheart," Reno smirked as he led him up to the door, "for at least the next few weeks."

Yazoo glared daggers at the place, his annoyance intensifying as they entered the dingy little building.

"You should be grateful, this place ain't so bad. Look, you even get your very own bathroom." He grinned, pointing at the peeling bathroom door, which was the only other room in the whole place. Everything else was packed into the one medium-sized living room.

"You need to lay low here for a while," Reno told him, after giving the remnant the grand-tour, which took all of thirty seconds.

Yazoo scowled at him, just like in the good old days. "Why should I trust you?"

"I just broke you out!" Reno snapped back. He couldn't believe after all this, the remnant was still acting like a whiny little girl. "I could lose my job for this."

"Why did you do that...? I thought you didn't even like me."

Reno dropped onto the old couch, which smelt faintly of mothballs. "Yeah, well, that's 'cause you're an ass. But it doesn't mean I want them to lock you up."

"That's noble of you, Turk," Yazoo muttered, seating himself next to the redhead, despite his cold tone.

"If you're gonna start your whiny shit again, you know it's not too late for me to take you right back to Shinra," he replied, deciding to leave. If the remnant wanted to have an argument, he could have one with the wall. Reno had done too much for him in the past few days, no, weeks, to want to still take this crap. Especially now he didn't have orders not to mistreat the remnants. He could do whatever he wanted with Yazoo, and no one would ever know. Well, except for Loz and Yuffie, but those two had the combined IQ of a pebble. He got to his feet.

Yazoo reached out abruptly, grabbing the Turk's hand, and pulling him back down to the couch. Given the fact that several days ago he would've rather eaten his own arm and shaved his head bald than be in the same room as Reno, the Turk found it interesting that he was so eager now.

"I'm not going to complain," the remnant assured him. He looked awkward as he tried to explain the next part of his sentence. " But... I need your help again. There's something in my head, arguing with me, trying to make me do things."

Reno regarded him suspiciously. Maybe Rufus' fears hadn't been completely unfounded. "What things?"

"Murder," the silver-haired man answered, his hands now resting in his lap as he stared at the Turk. "I need to get rid of it, and I think I know where to go, but... I might lose consciousness again or... something else."

"So, what, you want me to be your chauffer?" Reno grinned, trying not to make it seem as though he distrusted Yazoo. If he had a little devil on his shoulder telling him to kill people, it was far better that he was somewhere where the Turk could keep an eye on him. And maybe he would be able to help, though he didn't know how he'd go about that.

"Will you do it?"

"I don't know, man, you might not be yourself right now. Hmm, okay, I'll ask you a question that only Yazoo would know the answer to."

Yazoo sneered. "If the question is whether you're an idiot, the answer is yes."

"You're an ass, man, same as always." He grinned at the remnant, who returned his playful smile. It was perhaps the first truly amicable moment between them. Things didn't feel so tense.

Reno was so caught up in the semi-relaxed atmosphere that he was taken completely unawares as Yazoo lunged at him. For a split second, he thought the remnant was transforming, that he was about to attack him, but the complete opposite happened.

Yazoo grabbed the redhead by the collar of his shirt, driving his lips into Reno's. For a moment, he didn't know how to react. Yazoo was a man, and a _remnant,_ who could turn into Sephiroth at _any moment_ –not usually the combination Reno was attracted to. But he didn't want to push him away. Instead he felt an urge to pull him closer, return the fierce kiss, to find out just where Yazoo's hands were travelling to.

In the midst of his confused thoughts, just one drifted to the surface.

_Why did they make remnants of Sephiroth taste like cherries?_

...


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's notes: Never updated so fast in my life! Done and done! Final chapters will be up at the end of the week, so keep one eye on the screen –it won't be there forever this time, promise!**

**...**

CHAPTER TWELVE

It was early morning, and silence filled the air, except the rustling noise that accompanied Yazoo's movement around the small building. Reno wrapped his arms around his head, which he then buried underneath the pillow, trying to block out the noises and bright light that came with morning.

He felt someone poking him in the ribs, and batted the unwelcome hand away.

"Come on," Yazoo ordered. "We need to set off for the Forgotten City immediately."

Reno grabbed the remnant by the wrist, dragging him back to the sofa-bed and slurring his words with sleep. "Aww, come back to bed, it's too early to get up."

"No, we need to go now," Yazoo replied coolly, sliding his hand from the Turk's grasp and heading for the door.

Reno didn't know what to think. Had he just been used? This was new for him. Of course, sleeping with remnants was new for him too. True enough, he'd never been all that fussy, but he did have _some_ principles. He must have been out of his mind last night, but if that's what being out of his mind felt like, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just admit himself to the psychiatric hospital right now and have done with it. The question was: what had that just been, a one-night-stand? Or something more? Reno had hardly found himself questioning things so much before, wondering what things meant, where a relationship was going. Maybe he was turning into a woman. Seriously though, he couldn't help wondering if there could be something more to it, even though it would be almost impossible to build a relationship with all the odds stacked against them, but then, he liked a challenge, so what did it matter.

He slid reluctantly out of bed and felt around the floor for his crumpled clothes, tugging them on with about as much enthusiasm as one would pull on a banana-outfit. He straightened up, heading for the mirror in the bathroom so that he could at least rearrange his hair so that it looked a little more stylish. If there was one thing he was proud of, it was his hair. Just a shame this stupid little shack didn't have any hair products he could use.

"_What_ are you doing? We don't have time to waste," Yazoo snapped from the doorway to the house.

"You had plenty of time to waste last night..." Reno muttered under his breath, glancing at the remnant's haughty reflection in the mirror. "Anyhow, this is important too."

Yazoo most likely did not understand the concept of making oneself look good. Reno thought himself to be a pretty attractive guy, but it still took a little work, but the remnant, undoubtedly, was genetically engineered to look pretty. If someone went to the trouble of genetically engineering someone, they're hardly going to make them ugly, are they? That said, the scientists obviously made the remnant with things in mind other than eye-candy.

"Finished?" Yazoo asked sourly.

Reno indicated his bright red hair, which was now rescued from its flat _bedheadedness_. "Stunning, don't you think?"

The remnant rolled his eyes and gave a half-hearted scowl, turning from him and strolling back outside to the waiting vehicle.

"That's cold, man! I'm hurt, really hurt," Reno gasped as he followed the other man, clutching at his heart dramatically as he joined him outside. "You know, a guy likes to hear he looks nice, every once in a while."

Yazoo smiled vacantly, and dropped into the car, pushing the door on the driver's side open. Reno took the obvious hint and joined him. Clearly the fun was over for the day. Given the fact the remnant was looking a little healthier out in the little house, the redhead had been hoping that he would recover on his own, without the need to head for this lake in the Forgotten City.

He had been a little distant, but then, Yazoo wasn't exactly the talkative type. It occurred to Reno that the honeymoon period was over, lasting a grand total of one day, and now they had to deal with the remnant's issues. What normal couple _didn't_ have to work through crap together? Well: A, they weren't a normal couple, and B, they weren't a couple, full stop. They were just... what the hell were they? It's not even like they were friends.

"So, how are we today?" asked Reno, taking a stab at conversation. He didn't expect to get much out of him; even on a sane day the remnant was as sociable as... well, Sephiroth. Perhaps that was to be expected. The fact that he was prone to malicious comments and fits of lamp-throwing might have been why he was assigned to Reno; either because every negative thing was like water off his back, or because the boss didn't like him, but he preferred to believe the former.

"I can hear the voice in my head; it's getting louder the closer we get. He knows I'm going to rid myself of him." Yazoo's tone of voice was just as macabre as his expression. Anyone would thing he was being driven along in a hearse that was intended for him. Maybe there was something in that that Reno should take note of, but he preferred to ignore it.

"Uh-huh," the Turk replied thoughtfully, before passing him a cheeky grin. "Pretty good, then?"

The remnant shot him a withering sidelong glance, and closed his eyes, drifting into his subconscious. He could hear a faint whispering in his head, which had gotten fainter recently. The previous night it had almost been inaudible, but that might have just been due to the distraction, and the fact that he wasn't spending time stewing over morbid thoughts and indulging himself instead.

Still, he couldn't spend the rest of his days occupying his time in that way, much as he would like to. He had to be proactive about removing the voice. He was certain it wasn't Kadaj, but what it had said made sense, or at least, some of it. In any case he should find answers at the lake. There had been something almost mystical about it, which was why the remnants had centred their base there.

Originally, he had intended to dupe Reno into thinking they were allies, just a ploy to get the Turk to take him to the lake, when he might not be strong enough to make the journey, as had been proven before. Then, he had intended to force the Cetra, the dead one that the others spoke of like some deity, and force her to restore his brother to life. It was only very recently that he'd been having second-thoughts. Maybe he should ask her for help instead, to rid his mind of its demons, and enable him to lead a normal life. It would certainly give Reno some peace, if that's what he wanted, and perhaps he was entitled, after what he'd put up with.

He didn't know Reno. A random thought, but a true one. He didn't know what went on him the Turk's head, but the opposite was probably true also. He had never let Reno guess at his mind, except in moments of weakness. They had a strange partnership: they mocked each other, fought each other, supported each other and then they'd slept together, which is what they had done. 'Making love'. Yazoo despised that phrase; as though _love_ could be just created, manufactured by people. It was either there, or it wasn't. That said, they were able to manufacture people, he was living proof of that, so maybe emotions could be manufactured too. In any case, they were strangers.

He glanced over at Reno, who was driving, his posture indicating that he was relaxed; fingers drumming on the steering wheel, arm draped out of the open window, which was open pointlessly to allow the chill air to freeze them. Maybe he just did it to preserve some image. Yazoo didn't know. He didn't really know the man who sat next to him in the car. He knew every inch of his body, but he didn't know _him_. Currently, Reno seemed like a carefree man; sure, he'd get annoyed by things, but he'd generally take it all in his stride. Yazoo wasn't sure quite how true such an analysis was. He'd never asked. He thought to himself, if this did succeed, he would search Reno more thoroughly, as though they had a future together. Perhaps they did.

...

It was some time before they reached the lake, which was inaccessible by the road. In any case, the drive had been longer than was envisaged, and Yazoo suspected the Turk had purposefully taken the scenic route, and though he could guess at his motives, he didn't want to, not until it was all said and done. He would savour the answer when it came.

He headed towards the ominously still water. It was still as mystifying as it had been when they first came here, and when they had indoctrinated the children. He didn't know its history, but there was a presence surrounding the water.

Composed but strained. That was his facial expression and for a change it quite accurately portrayed his mood, which was tense. He could feel Reno's unspoken hesitation, wondering perhaps, if something goes wrong, would he have to kill the remnant? Yazoo knew it, which was precisely why he had seized the previous night with both hands, quite literally. It might be one of his last lucid moments.

The water lapped at his feet, and he could feel it seeping through his shoes, cool and refreshing. He waded deeper, until he was at the heart of the pool. He wondered for a moment if he should wait, or speak, or even submerge himself, when it gripped him, seizing his body in an icy moment, his mind entranced.

...

From the moment they arrived at the suspicious pool, Reno had been on edge. He could almost believe that for whatever morbid reason, Aerith's spirit might choose to linger there, but he could also imagine who else might like this little holiday destination too. It was that person he didn't want to encounter.

He wasn't a naturally anxious person, but he'd grown attached to the remnant, in possibly a perverse way, given he wasn't exactly human. More of a test subject, but it didn't matter either way; he still felt a queasiness in the pit of his stomach when he saw Yazoo entering the lake. That's why, when the remnant slipped beneath the surface of the eerily still water, Reno didn't miss a beat.

He launched down the banks of the lake, leaping into the water, despite the fact it might have retained some freakish mind-control capabilities which had been used on those kids before. Sucking in a deep breath, he plunged below the surface, fumbling in its murky depths for some sign of the remnant. Through pure luck, and possibly also because he'd reacted so quickly, he managed to grab a fistful of clothing, and haul the remnant to the surface with all his strength. Despite his lack of brawn, he was still fit, and was able to half-swim back to the water's edge with the remnant in tow.

For a brief moment, he thought Yazoo had drowned, but then he heard the remnant whisper to someone who wasn't there. Reno wasn't sure what to do. Clearly this was a party he wasn't invited to, and couldn't have gate-crashed even if he wanted to. Not at the moment, anyway.

"I believe you."

The words caused an involuntary shiver in the Turk. He felt uneasy again, his initial relief that the remnant was alive had evaporated. Yazoo's blank expression gave nothing away, and all he could do was wait and see who it was who was speaking to the remnant.

He pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around the remnant's soaked body. At least it should keep him warm, until he came to, that was.

"Reno! Watch out!" a voice yelled, drawing closer.

He twisted round his position – from where he sat sprawled on the floor, Yazoo's head resting in the crook of one arm, and the other holding the warm jacket to his damp body – so that he could see who the gatecrasher was. As it turned out, there were two of them.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" he asked as they stopped a short distance away, regarding the unconscious remnant warily.

"The files we found said that he might... change," said the owner of the voice, Yuffie. She had her weapon in hand, and Reno wondered if she was prepared to use it. "You think we should call Tifa, or Cloud? I'm not so sure I wanna fight Sephiroth all on my own."

"Think about it! If they all come running here, you can be damn sure who'll be on their tails," he answered, adamant. It was true enough that he didn't like the idea of anyone else being called to the scene. It wasn't selfishness either. He was certain that they wouldn't give Yazoo the benefit of the doubt; who had, lately? He was the only one who'd had Yazoo's back, even when he'd pulled stupid stunts and thrown inanimate objects at him. He had the bump to prove it. If the others arrived, he was concerned that they'd label the remnant a threat and end it, without wondering if he even deserved a chance to live his own life.

"What should we do?!" Loz cried after a moment. The big teary remnant was probably the only other one on the whole planet who had Yazoo's interests in mind.

Unfortunately, Reno couldn't answer that question, none of them could. It looked like all they could do was play the waiting game. It was a game he hated, and was terrible at, as was evident in the amount of times he'd run into a mission headfirst without waiting to get the upper-hand, or gathering all the information. Though sometimes, his rash actions had proven an advantage. Not that he had a choice here though. In any of these events, Rude would've had his back, but his partner couldn't back him up here. He wasn't even sure the other Turk would fully understand his feelings, which was precisely why he hadn't told him, or anyone else.

He turned back to the entranced remnant, oblivious to the other two, who were just lingering there, lost in thoughts and endless circles of fruitless plans. Until they even knew what they were dealing with, Reno decided all he could do was wait until the moment he was needed. It was a possibility that it was a mistake bringing him here, but if he had stayed in the hospital, wouldn't it have still happened. This was just speeding up the process, so they could get it out of the way and get on with things. Yazoo's way of thinking was not unlike his own, in this respect.

The waiting game. Man, how he hated it.

...

The dim forest and its luminous trees was quickly replaced by an unfathomable darkness. Yazoo opened his eyes. Or were they already open? It didn't matter, he couldn't see either way. He could just sense that there was something there, lurking in the darkness. The coolness of his body, he was aware of, but not much else. He didn't know where Reno had gone, since he entered the lake. He wasn't even sure he was still there.

Perhaps he was inside his own mind. Certainly, the voice was louder here. Maybe he was, which meant that whoever's instructions he had been following – Kadaj or someone else – was here too.

He strained to hear what the voice was saying, but he needn't have bothered. It was near to him now. There was no sense in hoping to escape, if he didn't know where he was.

"You're late, Yazoo. I almost thought you weren't coming. I expect better from someone bearing Jenova cells."

"You," Yazoo whispered.

As his mind identified the presence, a dim outline of the stranger's profile began to come into focus. Though he had never met him, he knew from the feeling that was spreading through him, who it was. For a while now, he'd had his suspicions. Kadaj was not cold enough, nor bitter enough to claim this person's voice. He had been a tormented child, lashing out, searching for his mother. But before Yazoo, stood not a lost child, but a monster. If this was in his mind, could Sephiroth really hurt him, or would he just seize his body, as he may have done with Kadaj, and try to destroy those Yazoo cared for.

"Leave me alone," Yazoo said. An act of defiance? Or a pitiable request? He couldn't even tell himself. His thoughts were filled with the one notion that this was it: if Sephiroth stood before him, he couldn't escape, and he was to be the next host.

"Is that despair?" Sephiroth asked. His voice was icy, but it had some tone of humour to it, which was menacing in its own right. He was all-powerful; he had the liberty of deciding if someone's fear could be for his amusement. "You have only one purpose, and your moment of glory has come. I would think you would've been more grateful to my mother. It's pitiful how much faith Kadaj had in her, but then he was weak. Perhaps you will be a more useful vessel."

Yazoo resisted the icy fingers that he could feel on his face, but could not see. They were frozen, and at the same time, they burned him. "I won't let you."

"You don't have a choice; this moment was the reason you were created, to be a poor shadow of what I am, merely a pathway to my destiny. Make your peace with the world, remnant, it won't be here much longer."

Yazoo knew this must have been what happened to Kadaj. Did he even try to resist, or was he a willing tool? Maybe he would be able to ask him soon enough. He could feel himself being suffocated, his mind drowned by Sephiroth's malignant thoughts. He was being smothered in fury, despair, vengefulness. It was over. If Sephiroth won, he would be trapped in his own head, permanently. If he was vanquished, Yazoo would surely die with him, just as his brother had. Either way, Reno, who was far from him now, would most likely be joining him in this fate, the first to be cut down by a nightmare.

...


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The atmosphere upon the banks of the river was tense. The three unlikely comrades were holding a silent vigil, each keeping their own counsel. No one wanted to hear anybody else's worries; they had enough of their own. Reno had half expected Yuffie to come out with some chipper comment, as she often did, or something childish, but she hadn't said a word. The Wutainian thief was sat further up the bank, Loz's hand pressed between both of her own. She was watching him, and he was watching Yazoo, tears streaming down his expressionless face. Whom Yazoo was watching was anybody's guess.

Reno had pins and needles. Both his legs and his arms were tingling. He didn't want to move though, as though moving would somehow affect Yazoo's mental state. Judging from the incapacitated state he'd been in for what felt like an eternity, perhaps there wasn't anything worse that could be done to him. He seemed lost in there, his vacant eyes pointed towards the sky, which was always overcast here.

A slight movement, so slight it probably hadn't been detected by the others. Reno wasn't going to raise the alarm yet, but he couldn't sit here on his backside while Yazoo was lost inside his head, fighting who knew what. The remnant gave a slight tremor, which might have been his warning, or a plea for help, his message to Reno in the real world. A near impossibility, perhaps, but he was going to believe it anyway. He bent his head slightly, his lips to Yazoo's ears so that only he could hear: message received.

...

Darkness now smothered Yazoo, and Sephiroth had vanished from sight. But he was still there, everywhere, he _was_ the darkness. It was almost as though it was seeping into every corner of Yazoo's body, trying to pull his consciousness free from its protective shell, which was really only a vehicle for Sephiroth. Yazoo himself was just warming the driver's seat for him, until his arrival.

In the midst of the blinding darkness, Yazoo felt something connect with his fingers, sending a jolt through his body, an unexpected warmth. He fixed his mind on that, and the feeling intensified, soft fingers intertwining with his, a warm, comforting hand. He turned his head sideways, though he expected to see nothing in the impenetrable dark, he saw a faint outline, as Sephiroth had appeared to him before. But this wasn't him; this was the one he had been reaching out to before.

Kadaj smiled at him, a genuine smile, filled with tender kindness that had seemed lacking in life. He leaned closer, whispering softly in Yazoo's ear, "I'm right here for you. Please hang in there."

Simple as it was, Yazoo took comfort from it. He didn't want to struggle alone, but he wouldn't have to.

As Kadaj moved away, that smile still fixed on his mouth, his contented eyes, the image began to sink back into the darkness. His hand released Yazoo's. A feeling of fear began to set in, slowly. He couldn't go, not when he just said he was with him. Was he still here?

Ahead of him, in the absolute dark, a speck of light pierced the nothingness. It expanded, a glowing warmth drawing nearer until the darkness was replaced by a radiant light, as terrifying and absolute in its own way. The difference though, was that where the dark had exuded fear, desolation, this light radiated tranquillity and warmth.

The light intensified, and Yazoo struggled to see the image forming in front of him, but gradually it came into focus, in the same amount of time it took for the peacefulness of his new surroundings to wash over him.

It was a woman, with a benevolent face, beautiful, and undoubtedly kind, patient. She seemed familiar somehow, though he was sure he had never met her before.

"Are you... Mother?" he asked, the words seeming foolish even as they left his mouth.

She smiled, not insulted by this question. "I think you know I'm not."

Yazoo reminded himself sharply of Sephiroth's pervading presence. What if this was just a trick, she would be erased at any moment, and he would be confronted with a nightmare. He couldn't truly believe that _he_ had just disappeared, when he had been looming there for so long, his strength invading. "Where is he?"

"Don't worry, he's gone now." Her confidence and her peace were infectious. He couldn't help but feel it spreading towards him, even as she just stood there, hands clasped in front of her, a gentle smile on her face. She also seemed amused, but it wasn't at the expense of his fear. "He won't be coming back; at least, not while I'm here."

Then it occurred to Yazoo, he hadn't met this woman before, but he had heard of her. She was the very one he had come looking for, when he'd found Sephiroth instead. "You're that woman, the one Cloud talked about. You sent Kadaj into the Lifestream."

"It was his time to go, but I just helped him on his way. He was so angry and bitter, and that's no good, you know?"

"But you didn't send me," he persisted. She had answers, and he wanted them. So much had made such little sense to him. He was entitled to know what he was supposed to do. "Didn't you know Sephiroth would do this? I'm just a conduit, he said it himself, a pathway for him to find his way back to this world."

"Only if you're willing to open that path to him; he can't find it if it's not there," she replied sagely, her calm voice not straying into anger, despite his insistent probing. "Why do you think he chose you and not Loz? You're so willing to block out everyone else, aren't you? That's the real truth. Cloud was just the same, but not so much now."

"That doesn't matter. I was still too weak to fight him off."

"Well, I didn't see anyone else fighting him," she said with a coy smile. "There are things worth fighting for, you know. Now, what are you doing standing here talking to me? There's people worried about you, out there."

She was right. And Kadaj did belong here, where he could find some solace, an end to his searching. That was why Yazoo wasn't there; he had already found the end to his searching, unbeknownst to him. All that searching for their _mother,_ it was all because they wanted someone to guide them, someone who could love them, and accept them. Kadaj had never found this, and perhaps he never would have. Maybe the same could not be said for him, or Loz.

The light further intensified until Yazoo had to press his eyes shut to stop it from blinding him. After a moment, his focused, his eyes having never really been closed. He gazed around for a vague second, taking in his surroundings, before he realised that he was awake, he had survived. Reno was holding him, gripping his hand tightly. It was the same hand that Kadaj had held tightly, and he wondered for a brief moment if–

"You're one dumbass remnant!" Reno yelled at him, his face furious for a moment, before it dissolved into honest relief. He pulled Yazoo to him roughly, wrapping him in a tight, reassured embrace.

The redhead pulled back, staring searchingly into Yazoo's eyes for a moment, as though checking that he was really him, that it was over and they could breathe. He grinned.

"I thought I lost you," Reno murmured quietly.

Yazoo smiled, brushing his fingers softly against the Turk's cheek. Such displays of affection were rare for him, and certainly he would never have done it to a Turk, in front of others, but given his near death experience just a moment ago, he figured he deserved to show his relief however he wanted. "But you were there all along. I wasn't ever alone."

Reno grinned, clutching the silver-haired man into his arms once more. Yazoo welcomed the warm embrace of the other man, resting his face against the soft material of his shirt. He pulled Reno's jacket around his own shoulders more closely, revelling in its warmth, and the faint smell of the Turk, entwined in the fabric.

He became suddenly aware of Loz and Yuffie, who hadn't been there when he had arrived. They were celebrating further up the banks, Yuffie jumping up and down on the spot excitedly, while Loz attempted to catch her and hug her, as he had seen the other pair just doing. He managed to grab the Wutainian woman and throw his huge arms around her, crushing her for a moment until she batted his arms away. He let go, looking a little sheepish, though Yuffie was grinning.

Loz charged at his brother and crushed him too, in a huge bear hug. It was somewhat less refined than the embrace he'd just received from Reno, but the gesture was appreciated.

Yazoo sat sprawled on the floor, leaning against Reno's chest as he explained the events that had transpired during the time that had elapsed while he had been out of it, and the others had been waiting. He opened up, and told them all the details. Well, almost all of them. Some, he would just save for Reno.

...


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Saving the world really worked up Reno's appetite –for a good drink amongst other things, and where else better to celebrate his victory than in Seventh Heaven, surrounded by his adoring fans. Well, perhaps the people there fit neither category, but they'd give him a drink, and surely a little praise for having saved the day, again. He didn't care what they said –Cloud could never have defeated Sephiroth all by himself. They should count themselves lucky that the Turks were their allies these days.

As they neared the drab sign that hung outside the bar, Reno glanced at the silver-haired man walking ahead of him. The guy really was a freak, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. He sure didn't feel like turning him over to the boss any time soon, but neither did he want to send Yazoo far away into hiding. He couldn't help it; he was drawn to the guy.

His pleasant musings were cut short by a sharp slap round the face. Reno reeled backwards slightly from shock, grabbing his wounded cheek before glaring at the pint-sized perpetrator. Surprise, surprise, it was the Wutainian brat, Yuffie.

"Oww!" he protested, gesturing at his reddening cheek. It genuinely hurt, not that he was above milking events like these for all they were worth. "What the hell was that for?"

Yuffie scowled at him, but for all her attempt at menace, she just looked like she was sucking lemons. "For telling people I'm good in bed!"

Without even waiting to hear his indignant response, the young woman, who was so much like a kid that it made Reno feel disturbed that he even considered a relationship with her, stormed off. Following her dramatic stomping into the bar was, of course, her lackey.*

Reno decided to yell at her retreating back, even if for nothing more than saving face. "What, you wanted me to tell people you're _bad_ in bed? Women! They're like a whole other species."

For all Yazoo's weirdness, his 'mommy issues', his freakish alter-ego, he still made a _hell_ of a lot more sense than half the women Reno knew. They were a collective enigma. It was like someone made them crazy, just to drive men equally crazy while they tried to figure them out. He'd rather take a recently rehabilitated remnant of Sephiroth any day. Or so he thought, as he gave a rueful glance to the other man, who was smirking.

"Hate to tell you this, man, but you're gonna have to head back to the hut," the Turk reminded him, deciding he'd really rather not hear some smart-arsed comment from the silver-haired man after his pride –and his face –had been wounded. Sure was a great way to make Yazoo take him seriously. Maybe he was wondering if Reno would discuss him like that with others. Obviously not, seeing as he wasn't supposed to know where the fugitive was, but still, he might end up telling Rude eventually. That didn't count though –talking to Rude was like talking to himself, his partner just thought he was rambling half the time and took no notice. The rest of the time he seemed to have guessed it before Reno had even opened his mouth. "I know you can't wait to get back, but I think we can stop by the bar for a couple of hours, to celebrate. I'll even buy your drink."

"Aren't you a gentleman. I don't mind going back to that little hole, I guess, but it might get lonely. What do you think Rufus Shinra will do to you, if he finds out?"

Reno corrected him: "_When _he finds out. Nothing gets past that guy. But he ain't so bad, so maybe just a slap on the wrists."

That was a naïve comment, but he wanted to reassure Yazoo. After all the guy had been through, he figured a few white lies wouldn't hurt. Either Yazoo didn't buy the excuse, or he thought he knew Shinra better than the Turk did, but either way, he momentarily grabbed Reno by the collar of his shirt and pressed his lips into the redhead, before letting go seconds later.

For a few startled moments, Reno just stood there, staring into nothing. Right there, in broad daylight, in the middle of the street, the silver-haired man had just kissed him. True enough, they'd gone a little further than that before, but that was between them. Anyone could've been watching the bar, hell, Tseng and Elena might be sat on top of some building, watching the whole thing through binoculars with expressions like a couple of old women. For some reason though, Reno really didn't give a damn.

Yazoo glanced over his shoulder as he made his way towards the entrance to the bar, grinning mischievously. "You know, I've kind of enjoyed you playing nurse."

"Yeah, well you can do it next time," he replied, catching up with the other man as they reached Seventh Heaven. "Think I can get an outfit from somewhere, no questions asked?"

...

Bouncing along to a beat she'd heard earlier and was repeating in her head, therefore looking slightly crazed, Yuffie skipped into Seventh Heaven, beaming at the brunette behind the bar. The place was rather empty, but she supposed it was a little early in the day for people to be getting themselves alcohol, except hard drinkers, but they were probably still recovering from the previous night.

Yuffie leapt onto a barstool, while the brunette raised her eyebrows, wondering as she sometimes did, how the exuberant Wutainian didn't do herself an injury, jumping about as she often did.

"Hey Tifa, what you doing?" asked Yuffie, peering over the bar to see nothing more exciting than her friend cleaning glasses.

Tifa shrugged her response. "Nothing much, just cleaning up. It's been a pretty slow day. So, you drop by for anything in particular?"

"Just to fetch my side-kick." She was, of course, referring to the large silver-haired remnant who had been tagging along with her every time she stopped by the bar. Yuffie appreciated that he didn't come and find her though; she preferred to drop in by surprise, and receive a warm welcome for it. She would have asked her friends to join her sometimes, but they could be real killjoys: 'don't steal things, Yuffie', 'don't play pranks, Yuffie', in other words –don't have any fun _at all_. But Loz was such a big kid, that he'd do anything she wanted.

Tifa interrupted her indulgent thoughts. "Oh yeah? Where are you guys going?"

"Just cleaning up the streets, saving the world: the usual," she said with a vague smile. She wasn't going to have the big mother hen on at her about being a little badass. "It's a secret mission though, so I can't tell you."

No sooner had the words left her mouth, than the guy she'd come for bounded down the stairs, followed by the much slower Denzel, and a slightly puffed out Marlene trailing them. Both the children's faces were a pink colour, which was not really surprising, when they were playing tag with a beefy man, who'd spent most of his life being revved up with mako.

She was actually pleased to note that he'd finally found himself a decent set of clothes that fit him. After all, what kind of world-saving badass went around with a sidekick whose trousers finished at his knees? Loz didn't scrub up so badly. She felt her cheeks turn pink with embarrassment at the thought. Yuffie quickly overcame it by making her presence known with a cry and waving her arms.

"Yuffie! Wanna play?" Loz gasped, obviously a little tired from running around all day with a pair of hyperactive kids. Clearly, after being cooped up on the Shera for an eternity, their energy stores had reached bursting point and they were burning it all off during their stay with Tifa. It had taken long enough for Barrett to allow them back, but seeing as Cid didn't want kids on his ship, and the big guy was busy, there was no alternative for them to return to Tifa, remnants or no remnants. As they had seen though, the remnants weren't an issue, because Loz was a big kid himself, and Yazoo was 'going to live in the countryside', as a hermit, or something.

Marlene jabbed the big remnant in the back as he came to a halt, while Denzel danced about behind a table. "You're it!"

The big guy pulled a face at the small girl, before wandering over to the women and taking a seat beside Yuffie. The children seemed put-out for a moment, before whizzing round the room and continuing their game.

Yuffie turned to the new arrival, a mischievous smile on her round face. "I'm off to settle some old scores, if you wanna come along."

"Oh... sure! Can I pick a game after that? I never get to pick," he pouted, a look that really didn't suit him. Yuffie decided not to comment on that, and instead breezed past his request, which was the same one he made every time he came.

"Yeah yeah, but first we need to beat up some bad guys."

She wasn't sure if Loz knew she was referring to the gang whose materia they had tried to steal before –he didn't catch on quickly. However, that was irrelevant. She was really enjoying having him following her around, admiring of her escapades and surprisingly gentle, when he wasn't bashing thugs' heads together. Yuffie felt lacking in attention most of the time, and the others ignored her suggestions usually, or gave her that patronising look, as if to say 'oh, look what Yuffie's saying this time'. Plus, it was always good to have friends outside the AVALANCHE group.

Denzel moved over to them, accompanied by Marlene. Yuffie wondered if they might be a young Cloud and Tifa in the making, seeing as they spent so much time with the pair. Hopefully if they were, there would be less sorrow in their future. She had no idea why Tifa was so set on having a relationship with a guy who just caused her to angst. In Yuffie's opinion, if she were to have a relationship, she'd want it to be with a guy who loved being around her, and who she had fun with. Cloud wasn't really that type of man. She didn't think she'd seen him crack a smile... ever, let alone playing pranks and such.

"You guys are always running off fighting bad guys," Denzel commented, in admiration. "Are you like superheroes?"

Since the whole AVALANCHE crew dropped in to fight the Bahamut and save the city _again_, Denzel had always been somewhat in awe of them due to their fighting prowess, but perhaps even more so because they were Cloud's friends, and he hero-worshipped the guy.

"That's right." Yuffie hopped to her feet, her companion copying her. She headed for the door, pulling it open and setting off down the street with that usual bounce to her step. Their destination was a bit of a trek across town, but she felt like taking a stroll while the sun was out, seeing as it was such a rare event. After several moments of pondering Denzel's comment in the bar, she turned to Loz, who was striding along next to her, squinting as he often did when it was especially bright. "I really should think up a superhero name for myself."

He grinned eagerly at the thought. "If we're superheroes does that mean we get costumes?"

Yuffie pulled a face at him, as though to suggest it was a crazy idea, but she didn't completely rule the idea from her mind. And she'd always thought that green was a good colour for her...

...

Pulling a truck into the patch of blandly-coloured grass in front of the hut that he hadn't visited for weeks now, Reno smiled. He had steered clear of the place while the heat was still on their escaped remnant and eyes had been on him –Rude's, anyway. The other Turk had noticed Reno displaying his softer side during Yazoo's time of need and probably expected that he had something to do with the breakout. Rufus Shinra had even had a little chat with him about it, after becoming interested regarding Reno's hesitation to commit the remnant.

He strolled casually into the house, tossing his jacket onto the sofa. *Reno wanders into the little hut, where Yazoo has been staying for a while, seeing as Rufus had his people out looking for a while, until he called Reno to see him, to ask about the remnant he had been watching.*

"Honey, I'm home!" he yelled unnecessarily into the tiny building.

Within a moment, the silver-haired man in question emerged from the bathroom, his soft hair draped over his shoulders in wet tangles and a towel wrapped about his waist. A cloud of steam was visible in the air behind him, and the whole scenario seemed to the Turk like something out of the dreams he sometimes had, only instead of the young women emerging, it was Yazoo.

"So, what did he say?" he asked in his soft voice, dropping onto the couch and pulling Reno down beside him.

Reno shrugged in an attempt to seem nonchalant. "I'm still a Turk, so that's a plus. Turns out my 'hard work' over the years is enough to stop me being fired."

"What hard work?" Yazoo smirked.

"Hey, I worked my ass off, sweetheart! I don't spend all my time babysitting remnants." Reno settled down, mildly annoyed with himself for rising to the bait. The other man sniggered at his hot-tempered lover.

It was odd, because Reno had pretty much escaped capture on the breakout issue. It was true that the boss had had a little talk with him about it, but had pretty much given the impression that he wasn't concerned about the matter. It didn't make sense, because Reno had been sure that Shinra knew he was involved, and certainly that Yuffie and Loz had –though he couldn't do much about the Wutainian –but yet he was going to let the Turk get away with it?

His 'punishment' was fairly light in comparison to what it could have been, and apparently was for having lost Yazoo several times over and not reporting his disturbing behaviour immediately.

He had to wonder... was Rufus Shinra getting soft? Never! Unless some source had explained what had happened, somehow given convincing enough proof that Yazoo was no threat, but he was certain no one could have. It wasn't like anyone other than him, Yuffie, Loz and Yazoo himself knew the details.

"So, what's your punishment?" Yazoo asked, almost excited by the prospect, he was a weird guy, but Reno kind of liked it.

"I've been put on dumpster-duty for two whole months. Rude laughed his ass off. I bet he was the one who suggested that to the boss. Huh. Before that though, I've kinda been suspended, while Tseng and Elena 'investigate' what happened to you. Not that they're trying very hard."

Elena was a bit of a bimbo though, sometimes. Couldn't organise her way out of a paper bag, so it'd be months before she even figured out what facility Yazoo had escaped from, never mind where he'd gone. Maybe that was a little harsh, but he didn't hold it against her, everyone had their 'blonde moments'.

"Maybe they know they're chasing dead ends."

Reno gazed at the remnant suspiciously, wondering if he had anything to do with this. How could that be possible when he couldn't get within five metres of Shinra, without being taken back into the hospital again? That said, he knew himself that Yazoo had strange ways of getting himself about.

"Did you –?"

"So how long have you been suspended for?"

"A month," he shrugged and sighed. "I'm going to be bored as hell."

Yazoo got to his feet slowly, and meandered towards the bathroom and flicked the shower on, ditching his towel outside the door. "You really can't think of anything to do for a whole month?" He poked his head round the door, an inviting smile on his pale face. "Do I feel bad for you."

Just shy of a second, Reno caught on that Yazoo wasn't heading back to the shower simply because he was still dirty. He headed for the bathroom, flipping his phone off and chucking his things onto the floor. He had a feeling he wouldn't be needing them for some time.

...

**Author's notes: I hope you enjoyed it, even after the long, long wait! That's all, people –show over. So, au revoir, adios, sayonara, ciao, ta-ta for now! Thank you so, so much for all the support and kind words for the previous chapters –it helped me to finally finish this, even though I was certain that I'd lost my imagination for it!! ;D**


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